Angul: Panic gripped several villages under Angul forest division in this district after a female elephant went on a rampage and trampled four persons to death, Saturday.
According to sources, Subhas Sahu, 55, of Chheliapada village, Aniruddh Sahu, 55, of Angarabandh; Ramesh Chandra Swain, 60, of Barasingha village under Sadar police limits, and Ajay Samal, 55, of Santri village under Banarpal police limits faced the wrath of the marauding jumbo and succumbed to the injuries.
The incident sparked tension in these areas when residents staged agitation demanding protection from elephant menace and job to the next of the kin of the deceased people. The family members of two of the deceased persons put up their body outside the Collectorate and staged a dharna.
Angul divisional forest officer Vivek Kumar, ADM (revenue) Santosh Kumar Pradhan, ADM (general) Rajanikant Swain, Sub-Collector Baitura Deep, Angul SDPO Ramakant Mahalik made an attempt to placate the angry protesters.
The agitators relented after forest, police and administrative officials held talks with them and gave away `55,000 from District Red-Cross, Forest department and block administration funds, and `1 lakh out of the `4 lakh government assistance to each of the bereaved families.
The remaining `3 lakh government assistance will be provided after completion of necessary formalities, the officials said. Reports said that a herd of 25 elephants had stay put at Mandargiri under Angul forest division, Friday night.
A female elephant got separated from the herd and moved towards Kantigadia bordering Dhenkanal district early morning Saturday. The animal after leaving Mandargiri reached the border of Chheliapada. People were unaware of the presence of the animal due to the laxity of the Forest department, alleged some of the villagers.
As a result, Subhas Sahu who was guarding his farmland came face-to-face with the animal. The elephant trampled Subhash to death and buried his head in the ground. Later, the killer elephant strayed into Angarbandh and trampled Aniruddh to death when he was on his farmland.
The animal then moved towards Barasingha and trampled Ramesh to death when he had come out to attend nature’s call. The animal then strayed into Santri village under Banarpal police limits. People shouted on seeing the elephant when Ajay who was sleeping at home came outside.
The animal standing near his house then picked him up on its tusk and trampled him to death. All the four persons living in range of 20 km were killed within a span of two hours. All the four persons were pronounced dead by the doctors at the district headquarters hospital and the bodies were handed over to their family members after post-mortem.
–PNN