Dhenkanal/ Talcher/Rourkela: As many as three persons including a seven-year-old boy were killed in separate elephant attacks in last 12 hours in the state.
In the first instance, an 82-year-old man died while a woman suffered injuries after a tusker attacked them while they were going to a nearby pond to take bath at Gudiakateni village under Odapada block in Dhankanal district at around 6 AM Saturday.
The deceased has been identified as Dayanidhi Sahu (65). Irate locals later staged a road blockade on NH -55 near the village demanding compensation for family members of the deceased.
In a separate incident, an elderly man identified as Kedar Nath Prasad of Deulabeda village in Talcher in Angul district was trampled to death by an elephant while he was going to a nearby shop this morning. On being informed, the police and forest department officials reached the spot and begun an operation to drive away the pachyderm.
Sources said, two wild elephants had strayed into some areas of Talcher, February 28.
Meanwhile, a seven-year-old boy died after a portion of house wall collapsed on him after an elephant entered his house late Friday night. The deceased has been identified as Pinku, son of a loca, Surendra Patra of Baraghat village under Bonai forest range in Sundergarh district.
Sources said a wild elephant entered human habitation and tried to enter Surendra’s house, following which a portion of his house wall caved in on the boy. Though the child was rushed to a hospital in Bonai, doctors declared him brought dead, sources said.
