Fire torches thrown to drive away elephant herd in Mayurbhanj, DFO orders probe

In a shocking incident, some villagers under Sukruli block and Karanjia Forest Range in Mayurbhanj district reportedly threw fire torches to drive away a herd of elephants from their village on Wednesday night.

The video clip of the incident has gone viral over various social media platforms.

In the video, it is found that a man is throwing a huge burning torch at an elephant to drive the herd away from the village. It is also seen in the video that the huge elephant is running away in fear after being hit by the burst of fire.

After the video of the incident went viral, Karanjia DFO ordered a probe into the incident.

As per the forest official, the villagers have taken the law into their own hands and it’s illegal to attack an elephant.

The official also stated that a probe into the incident has been initiated and the man throwing the fire torch to the elephant could be arrested if found guilty in the investigation.

Notably, jumbo menace has gripped the area under Karanjia Forest Division for around a month. A herd of nearly 100 pachyderms has wreaked havoc in the area. The elephant herd has destroyed around 35 houses in the area in the last 26 days. They have also caused extensive damage to crop cultivation.

Around 22 elephants were reportedly on rampage in different blocks of Sukruli block on late Wednesday night forcing the local residents to drive away the wild animals with fire torches.

As per the allegations by the villagers, though the rampaging jumbos are posing a major threat to their lives and properties, the Forest Department employees have been reduced to mere spectators only.

Later in the day, Karanjia DFO informed that the two persons who hurled fire torches at the elephant herd have been detained. They have been identified as Deepak Munda and Bapi Majhi both of whom are members of the elephant squad, the DFO added.