Parjang: A forest guard was trampled to death Saturday by a rogue tusker while he was trying to rescue the animal from a puddle of slush at Purunapani Mundapasi under Gatarei forest beat in Mahabirod range in Dhenkanal district.
The victim was identified as Girish Chandra Biswal, 59, a forest guard of Gatarei forest beat.
The tusker which had gone wild in search of a mate got stuck in a puddle when Biswal went near it in a bid to rescue the pachyderm. It picked the forest guard with its trunk and gored him with its tusk before trampling him under its feet.
According to forest officials, the tempted tusker had gone wild for a mate and killed Biswal when he went near him.
A forester who had accompanied the guard managed to escape the tusker’s fury by hiding himself under a bullock cart. More than a dozen people were rendered critical in the melee while fleeing the menacing tusker. The incident has sparked panic as well as shock in the district.
Forest officials said the tusker had gone berserk and accidentally fell into the slushy pool near Purunapani Mundapasi village under Gatarei forest beat.
Locals, who noticed the trapped tusker, informed the concerned forest officials. A team of forest personnel led by ranger Suresh Chandra Behera reached the spot and launched a rescue operation while over 200 persons comprising villagers and mediapersons went to the spot as onlookers.
The tusker tried to get to the embankment unsuccessfully. It however, succeeded later in its bid and chased the rescuers. Biswal, like all others, tried to flee but was caught hold of by the tusker and got crushed.
According to Kankadahada veterinarian Satya Bikram Tarai, a young male elephant becomes rogue when it fails to find a mate. Sometimes, the elephants go berserk after consuming mohua brew distilled in the village.
After trampelling Biswal the jumbo stood near the body for an hour and refused to move. The forest officials recovered the body after the tusker left for the jungle.
The incident sparked tension among the villagers as the agitated local women held up a vehicle carrying Biswal’s body and manhandled the forest ranger.
They demanded employment to the next of Biswal’s kin and compensation to the bereaved family. The agitators also refused to leave the vehicle until the DFO arrived on the spot.
The villagers relented after ACF Maheswar Pattnaik, SDPO Sk. Abdul Karim and police IIC Lingaraj Lenka reached the spot and intervened.
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