Parjang: As many as seven persons were injured as a wild tusker attacked them in separate incidents near Dihadol forest section under Mahabiroda forest range in Dhenkanal district Wednesday.
Two of these elephant attack victims, identified as Panchanan Sahu of Chandpur village and Antarjyami Raul of Barihapur village, are said to be in critical condition. The other victims of the attack are Utsav Sahu, Gabinda Sahu, Usha Sahu, Kamaksha Prasad Sahu and Trilochana Sahu of Chandpur village.
The tusker attacked Panchanan while he was working at farmland near his village. He was immediately rushed to Parjang hospital. Later, he was rushed to Mandapal hospital after his condition deteriorated.
The tusker, a short while after attacking Panchanan, fell into a nearby canal at Chandpur village. Its repeated attempts to come out of the canal yielded no results.
On being informed by locals, Forest Department officials of Dihadol and Muktapasi section reached the spot and launched an operation to rescue the elephant. However, the elephant came out of the canal on its own after an hour and crushed the scooter of Muktapasi forest guard Prasant Nanda Sahu.
The pachyderm then attacked Antarjyami Raul of Barihapur village leaving him critically injured. He was admitted to the Parjang hospital for treatment. Later, he was shifted to Dhenkanal and then to SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack after his condition deteriorated. Forest Department has given a compensation of Rs 5000 to his family for his treatment.
Local residents, meanwhile, are in a panic over the incident.
PNN