Parjang: A tusker appears to have turned rogue in the Dihadola forest section of Mahabiroda range in Dhenkanal forest division. Its rampaging behaviour in recent days bears testimony to this.
In the latest incident Saturday, the elephant killed a farmer named Kumuda Sahoo, 55, of Gailo village under Mahabiroda panchayat. With his death, the number of people killed by the elephant has reached four in the past four months. And, more than 20 people have been severely injured in its attacks.
According to sources, early in the morning Kumuda went to his farmland, which is 1km away from his own village. All of a sudden, a tusker appeared before him which he could not see well ahead of time due to fog. The animal trampled him to death.
When Sahoo failed to return home, his younger brother Pabitra Sahoo tried to contact him over mobile phone but there was no response. Suspecting possible danger, Pabitra went to the farm and found Sahoo dead.
Mahabiroda forest ranger Haramohan Nayak, Parjang police station sub-inspector Sanda, outpost in-charge Suresh Mahapatra, Dihadola forester Ramchandra Rout, along with staff reached the spot. The body was seized and after post-mortem, handed over to the family members.
The adopted son of the deceased farmer, Ganeswar Sahoo, was given a cheque for Rs 40,000 by the forest ranger and the rest of the amount of Rs 3,60,000 will be given after all necessary paper work is over, the ranger said.
The local villagers have demanded immediate driving away of the jumbo from their area and regular night patrolling by the forest department. “After the harvesting of paddy is over in agricultural fields, the jumbos are heading towards villages”, local farmers said.
Tusker destroys house
Chhendipada: A tusker entered a village in Patrapada panchayat in Angul forest division and caused severe damage late Friday night. Puri Dehury and his family were sleeping inside their house when the tusker broke the straw-thatched roof and took away three bags of paddy and a pot of cooked rice. The tusker ate all the three bags of paddy and completely damaged Puri’s garden. “We are afraid to come out of our houses after nightfall,” the villagers said. Forest officials reached the spot and drove away the elephant. They also made an assessment of the damage caused by the animal. Forest ranger Durga Charan Sahu said, “We will give adequate compensation for the damage.”