Dhenkanal: In another incident of man-animal conflict, a daily wager was trampled to death by a jumbo at Gengutia village under Dhenkanal Sadar range early Saturday morning. The deceased has been identified as Sushant Behera.
Sources said, the incident occurred while Behera was on his way to Dhenkanal town for work on his bicycle along with two other workers when the trio came face to face with the pachyderm near a level crossing.
While the other two workers managed to escape, the jumbo attacked Behera and caught hold of him using its trunk when he was trying to run away from the animal. It pinned him down to the ground and trampled him to death.
The gory death spread tension after news of the jumbo attack spread in the area. Angry villagers placed the body on the main road and staged a demonstration, demanding necessary compensation for the bereaved family and immediate steps to drive away the wild jumbo herd from the area into the forest.
After getting information, Sadar IIC Malaya Naik along with local tehsildar Udayanath Mahapatra and Sadar ranger Darshania Bhoi reached the spot and pacified the agitators. The situation was brought under control after the officials assured them of necessary compensation as per government norms.
The body was seized and sent for post-mortem after the protesters relented.
“We are not able to cultivate our agricultural lands for years now as the jumbos often stray into the village and destroy the standing crops. Despite repeated complaints to the Forest Department, no official bothers to inform us about the movement of jumbos in the area,” a local said.
When contacted, ranger Bhoi said, “I had no information about the movement of jumbos in this region. Since the villagers are claiming of the presence of elephants, we will be deploying an elephant driving squad in this area as well. We are trying our best to lessen these incidents and also reach out with financial help to the deceased’s family”.
“The deceased’s family will be given an amount of Rs 3, 60, 000. Initially we are giving a financial help of Rs 40,000 and further amount will be provided after all the documentation process,” he said adding that a probe is on.
