Cuttack: In yet another incident of elephant attack, a man was trampled to death by a wild tusker at Kalijanga village under Tigiria block in Athagarh Saturday morning. The deceased was identified as Shyamsundar Mohanty.
As per sources, Shyamsundar along with other locals had gone to his agriculture field to pluck brinjals. Seeing a tusker accelerating towards their fields, the villagers fled the spot and saved their lives.
However, Shyamsundar could not escape and the tusker dragged him before trampling him to death. He died on the spot.
"All of us were working in our respective farmlands. Some of us ran away and I managed to climb atop a tree. I was shouting for help when the tusker crushed him twice. The animal then crushed our motorcycles and bicyles parked near the farmland," said a local.
Getting information, officials of the forest department rushed to the spot and began an investigation into the incident.
Soon after the incident, tension prevailed in the area as locals gheraoed the forest personnel demanding compensation for the kin of the deceased. They further alleged that the Forest department officials arrived late at the spot and did not take any steps to drive away the tusker.
Meanwhile, Rabindra Nayak, Athagarh Ranger said, "As per the rules, the family of deceased will get a remuneration of Rs 10,000 from the Sub-collector or by the Collector. And the forest department has declared a compensation of Rs 4 lakh, and we can provide 10% of the total compensation amount on the spot. Apart from that, we can assure to provide a job in our department to Shyamsundar's son, who is currently pursuing his graduation. We can reveal everything only after getting the post mortem report."