Morada: Elephants from neighbouring Jharkhand are on a rampage in Morada area of Mayurbhanj district.
A herd of over 70 elephants reportedly entered Gobindapur in Chikitamatia panchayat late Thursday night and damaged three houses.
One person died when the animals pulled down the walls of his house. The deceased was identified as Kandra Kishku. Rubbles came crashing on him while Kandra was asleep.
Forest officials from Rasgobindapur range rushed to the spot and rescued Kandra from under the broken walls and rushed him in their van to the district headquarters hospital, but he succumbed on the way.
A child of Kandra miraculously managed to escape the attack. The elephants also damaged a cowshed of Sukadev Kishku and a house of Das Kishku.
The animals also damaged paddy stocked in a stockyard. It is believed that elephants usually damage houses in order to drink ‘handia’, a local intoxicating drink.
Ranger Dillip Kumar Barik said, “We had warned the people against keeping ‘handia’ or similar drinks in their houses. But people did not listen to us. Rs 10,000 will be paid to the bereaved family today and the remaining amount of compensation will be paid later.”
About three weeks ago, the elephants from Jharkhand had created mayhem in Nilagiri block of Balasore district and caused extensive damage to crops. PNN