Forest department personnel dies in elephant attack in Odisha

An elephant reportedly attacked a forest department team on Sunday claiming the life of one of the employees and critically injuring another in Odisha’s Kantabanji forest area under Bolangir district.

The incident occurred near Bandhanpali village under the Dholamunda section of the Kantabanji forest range.

As per reports, a forest department team was attempting to drive away an elephant when the animal suddenly attacked the members of the team.

Three individuals, including para-squad member Prashant Nayak, elephant tracker Rupesh Chhatria, and forest worker Tareshwar Rana, were critically injured in the attack.

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Subsequently, they were rushed to Bhima Bhoi Medical College in Bolangir for treatment where Rupesh Chhatria succumbed to his injuries during treatment last night.

Sources mentioned that the elephant had strayed close to human settlements and forest department teams were monitoring its movement. Unfortunately, the tusker suddenly charged at one of the vehicles leading to the tragic incident.

Bolangir DFO Sudarshan Behera said that the forest department had been tracking the elephant’s movement for the past 15 to 20 days and had sent the teams to keep vigil.

“Team members from three to four different forest departments were following the elephant’s tracks. The incident occurred when their vehicle braked suddenly at one point,” stated Behera.

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Meanwhile, investigations are underway to determine whether the protocols for handling such situations were followed and whether adequate safety precautions were taken during the operation to drive away the elephant.