Elephant tramples two persons to death in Odisha

The incidents of human-wildlife conflict seem to be on a rise in Odisha. This was again evident after two persons were reportedly trampled to death by an elephant at Parjang area under Mahabiroad range in Dhenkanal district on Saturday. The deceased have been identified as Alekh Nayak of Khalapal area and Bari Nayak of Gandataila village.

As per reports, a tusker reportedly trampled Alekh Nayak while he had gone to attend nature’s call at an open field near his house in the wee hours today. Later, the jumbo attacked Bari Nayak.

“My father had stepped out of house to attend nature’s call early in the morning. Later, we learnt that he was trampled to death by an elephant,” said deceased Alekh Nayak’s son Amar.

Kartik Nayak, a local resident said, “The incident has sparked fear in the minds of the residents as there is frequent movement of elephants in the area. We had earlier requested the forest department officials to keep the jumbos away from near human settlements.”

Meanwhile, the forest department officials have reached the spot and rescued the bodies. Efforts are also on to monitor the movement of the elephant.

It is pertinent to mention here that an elephant had trampled four persons to death in Angul Forest Division in the first week of January this month.

(Reported by Bidyadhar Baral)