Two women died after an elephant mauled them at Sikursingha village in Laimura forest section under Deogarh Forest Division on Friday night.
The deceased have been identified as Surubali Kisan and Khairi Kisan.
As per reports, the deceased were asleep last night when the tusker broke the wall and entered their house searching for food. Seeing the jumbo, the women tried to flee the spot, but the elephant chased them down and trampled them to death.
Following the incident, the Forest department officials reached the spot. They have launched an investigation into the incident.
Earlier in December last year, two youths were trampled to death by two wild elephants in separate incidents in Bargarh district.
In the same month, two other youths were also mauled to death by a wild elephant at Jaritapur under Khordha’s Tangi block.
As per reports, the deceased had gone to their farmland to watch over their crops which were ready to be harvested. Later, when they found the elephant destroying their crop, they tried to shoo the jumbo away. But it trampled them to death.
It is pertinent to mention here that the Odisha Forest Department has mulled to train elephants to drive out the tuskers which are straying into human habitations and unleashing mayhem.
In the initial phase, five elephants from Kapilash will be brought to Chandaka Dampara Wildlife Sanctuary on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar to receive ‘Kumki’ training.