Khurda: An elephant herd from Tangi forest range went on a rampage at Haja panchayat under Begunia block on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday and killed two elderly persons.
The deceased have been identified as Banshidhar Chhuala Singh, 74, of Haja and Sanatana Pradhan, 70, of Kalarajhar. Braja Sahu, 65, of Kalarajhar also sustained injuries in the elephant attack, the villagers added.
According to sources, the elephant herd strayed into Haja around 1.30 am and damaged a few two-wheelers parked at a villager’s backyard. They attacked Bansidhar when he was answering nature’s call. The elephant herd entered nearby Kalarajhar when some villagers of Haja chased them. The elephants damaged Sanatan’s cowshed and attacked him and Braja when they tried to chase the pachyderms away.
The injured trio was rushed to Khurda DHH, where Bansidhar and Sanatan were declared dead. Braja was later shifted to AIIMS-Bhubaneswar as his condition deteriorated.
Jankia police seized the bodies and sent them for postmortem after registering a case. Angered over incident, the villagers blocked New Jagannath Sadak and sought adequate compensation to the victims’ families. Khurda Divisional Forest Officer Sudipta Nayak, Begunia MLA Rajendra Kumar Sahoo and Begunia tehsildar Vivekanand Parida reached Haja and held discussions with the agitators. The road blockade was withdrawn after the administration provided Rs 1 lakh each to the victim’s families through cheques.
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