2 Forest department employees axed for throwing fireballs at elephant herd in Odisha 

Two forest department employees have been terminated for allegedly throwing fireballs at a herd of elephants at Dumuria village under Karanjia division in Mayurbhanj district. 

The axed employees, who were appointed on a contractual basis and were posted under Dudhiani range, have been identified as Deepak Munda and Bapi Majhi. 

Notably, the villagers of Dumuria village were trying to drive away a herd of elephants on Wednesday. Then, Munda and Majhi allegedly threw fireballs at the herd. 

The video clip of the incident went viral over various social media platforms. While the incident was very sensitive, it was condemned across the nation. 

Following this, Karanjia DFO had ordered a probe into the incident. Later in the day, Munda and Majhi had been identified as the persons who had thrown fireballs at the jumbo herd. Today, after a probe, they were sacked.

“They (Deepak Munda and Bapi Majhi) were not directed to use fireballs to drive the herd away. None of the forest department officers asks anyone to throw fireballs to drive elephants away. But when the herd strayed into the village, they were terrified and couldn’t think anything else but to throw fireballs,” said Dudhiani range officer, Pradeep Prusty.