Jhumpura/Dhenkikote: Elephants are on a killing spree these days. Two incidents have taken place at Jhumpura and Dhenkikote villages Friday in Keonjhar district.
A lone tusker had stamped a minor girl of Malada panchayat in Bamebari forest beat and had partly broken a house just a day back.
Sources said the tusker had destroyed a house in Phulajhar panchayat in Bhuyan-Juanga Pidha range Friday night. The lone tusker has been playing hide and seek with forest officials. The jumbo broke the house of Sunakar Hansda and ate his paddy stock.
Sunakar’s family was sleeping at home when the jumbo attacked their house and they narrowly escaped. Forest officials reached the spot, but failed to drive away the tusker from Phulajhar village.
In another incident in the Kalimati village of Manoharpur panchayat in the Dhenkikote forest section of Harichandanpur block, a tusker of Barabanku reserved forest stamped a man to death in an agricultural field while he was guarding it at night.
The victim was identified as Bharata Naik, (38), the son of Jagabandhu Naik of Kalimati village. He accidentally came in the way of the tusker. As he screamed in pain, villagers reached the spot to rescue him, but he died.
Forest officials have sent the body of Bharata to Keonjhar hospital for inquest. They assured his family of assistance as per norms.
PNN
