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Puri: An wild elephant went on rampage killing at least four persons and critically injuring three others in Puri district of Odisha on Sunday.
As per reports, the tusker reportedly strayed into the human habitation from Kuapada forest under Delang block of Puri district late last night and reportedly trampled four persons to death.
The elephant reportedly killed Jugal Bhatta of Gopinathpur village, Makar Palei of Chandradeipur, Chaitanya Sahu of Rajatai village and Ajay Nayak of Jamalpur besides injuring three others from the region.
Panic gripped the area following the deaths with residents fearing to come out of their houses. On the other hand, forest department officials were trying to ward off the elephant from the area.
“At around 6:30 AM, my uncle saw the elephant while working in the field. He tried to hide but the elephant eventually killed him on the spot,” said nephew of deceased, Makar Palei.
“Forest department never alerted us of the stray elephant roaming in the area. Had they informed us earlier, my uncle could have been saved,” he alleged.
A relative of another deceased, Chaitanya Sahu said, “We don’t know how it all happened. He went out to attend nature’s call today but after some time we came to know that an elephant mauled him to death.”
A local of Rajatai village alleged, “The forest department has completely failed to ward off the elephant due to which innocent people lost their lives today.”
However, the Range Officer of Balipatana, Jayakrushna Jadumani Das refuted the allegations of any negligence on part of the forest department and said, “Our efforts are on to ward off the elephant into the wild.”
