Nabarangpur/Chandahandi: Police and forest officials Wednesday recovered the bodies of Nakul and Turtura Majhi who along with another resident of Phatki village were mauled to death by a pack of five wild bears in Singari forest in Nabarangpur district.
The tranquiliser team from Bhawanipatna, which was pressed into service Wednesday morning, couldn’t start operation as the tranquilliser drug was found outdated. The 16-member team failed to impound the animals despite their best efforts.
On the other hand, a female bear attacked Ramachandra Mali (65), another villager, who went into the forest along with police and forest officials to trace the bodies. He was rushed to a nearby hospital in critical condition. Following the incident, other villagers beat the animal to death in presence of officials.
Lambodar Majhi, Nakul Majhi and his wife Turturi went into Singari forest on Jharigaon-Chandahandi road Tuesday to collect wild greens when they were attacked by the bears.
Lambodar’s body was recovered in the evening while the bodies of the remaining two were found Wednesday morning. Three others including Chandahandi OIC Devkumar Gamang sustained critical injuries as the bears pounced on them when they tried to trace the bodies.
Meanwhile, locals expressed resentment after they learnt that the tranquiliser team had brought outdated drug to make the hostile animals unconscious despite the death of three persons. They demanded a probe into the lapse.
Jaypatna: A bear ran berserk and mauled an elderly woman to death even as three others were left injured in the attack. The wild animal strayed into villages under this block in Kalahandi district in the wee hours of Wednesday.
The victim was identified as Remati Dishari (75) of Kapurmal village under this block. A profusely bleeding Remati died on the spot.
The injured were identified as Sahib Patra of Negipada village, Mani Pradhani of Kapurmal village and Damodar Nayak of Rajamunda village. The incident triggered panic among villagers.
The incident occurred when the bear first strayed into Negipada village and attacked Patra who was going to attend the nature’s call.
He was rescued by villagers who took him to Jaypatna hospital and later shifted him to the district headquarters hospital after his condition worsened.
The villagers chased the animal into Kapurmal village. The bear attacked Mani who was washing himself. Later, it attacked Remati and mauled her to death.
On being informed, police and forest officials reached the spot and drove the animal into the jungle. The bear as it ran away attacked Damodar rendering him critical.
Dhenkanal: A bear escaped from its cage and mauled a gardener when the latter tried to prevent it from attacking visitors at Kapilas mini zoo here Wednesday.
The gardener, Bighneshwar Sahu, sustained critical injuries and was first admitted to the district headquarters hospital and later was shifted to Cuttack for treatment. His condition is stated to be stable, sources said.
On hearing his screams, zoo officials rushed to his rescue and put the animal back in its cage. The incident triggered panic on the zoo premises.
The incident occurred when hundreds of visitors, who had gathered inside the zoo for Raja festival, teased the animal by shouting and pelting stones at it. Irked, the bear jumped out of its cage and tried to attack the visitors.
ACF Jeetendranath Das admitted the incident and said the zoo officials have managed to put the bear inside the cage. PNN