Maneswar: An injured tusker trampled a man to death while leaving another battling for life in separate incidents at Budia Kanta village under Sadar range in Sambalpur forest division Sunday night. Police seized the body of Yakub Baba alias Kabi (42) and registered a case. The body was handed over to the bereaved family after post-mortem while forest officials launched a probe.
The injured Sudarshan Suren has been undergoing treatment at Burla-based VSS Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (VIMSAR).
Locals flayed the forest officials for not taking Sudarshan to the hospital. His family had to rent a vehicle to take him to Burla, they said.
Yakub was returning home after attending mass at a church on the occasion of Christmas. Meanwhile, he came face-to-face with the pachyderm that trampled him to death.
Family members grew apprehensive after he failed to return home. They later found the body lying in a field.
In another incident, the tusker lifted Sudarshan by its trunk and threw him into a vegetable field. Sudarshan hid himself amid vegetable plants while the pachyderm walked into the village and damaged two houses.
A woman named Mariyan Suren, who was sleeping on a cot in one of the houses, survived without injuries though a wall caved in on her.
Locals said the tusker had sustained bullet injuries on its leg and therefore was in a rage and attacked whosoever came on its way.
The mayhem unleashed by the tusker marred the Christmas spirit among the villagers, who remained indoors and gave a miss to the celebrations. PNN