Rourkela: An FIR was filed Tuesday by the Forest department here against five persons belonging to Talabani village for allegedly assaulting two officials the previous day. A crowd had gathered in front of the Forest Department office protesting against the failure of the personnel to drive away two rouge elephants. The tuskers have been destroying crops and properties for the past couple of weeks. The accused have been identified as Mithu Mahanta, Guranga Patra, Pati Mahanta, Ganesh Mahanta, and Surendra Oram of Talabani village, under Lahunipara PS.
However, none of them have been arrested so far. Rourkela DFO, Jasobanta Sethi confirmed that the FIR has been filed against five persons. He also blamed the locals for the escalation of human-elephant conflict. “The elephants have a corridor to pass. However, locals have encroached on it. They have built habitations on the corridor. With forests shrinking rapidly, the elephants are now coming to human habitats,” Sethi pointed out. It should be stated here that around 5.00 pm Monday, the two tuskers entered Juniani village from Atekucha jungle side. Later they ventured into the Talabani village. Forest officials duly arrived and drove the elephants away using crackers and bugles.
However, locals alleged that by that time, the tuskers had caused massive damage to crops and property. This led to an altercation between the villagers and the Forest staff who were not in uniform. Later Forest Department staff alleged that they were assaulted by the villagers following which the FIR was lodged. NH-143 was also blocked for some time by the irate mob. They alleged that the forest staff had arrived late. However, the allegation was denied by Ajay K Xess, a senior official of Banki Range. “We arrived in time took care of the situation and managed to drive away the elephants. Despite that, the locals assaulted some of us,” Xess alleged.
