Bantala: A 35-year-old woman was trampled to death by a tusker at Sunabhuin Sahi under Bantala panchayat in Angul Forest Division Wednesday morning, triggering road blockade by the locals.
Reports said the victim, identified as Jhili Behera, wife of Sumanta Behera, was going to a tube well near her house Wednesday morning when a tusker suddenly attacked her. Jhili couldn’t see the elephant approaching her due to dense fog reducing the visibility, villagers said. The animal reportedly knocked her down with its trunk and trampled her to death, they added.
The incident sparked tension in the area as villagers detained Angul forest ranger Uddhab Behera and forest guard Niharika Sahu. They also staged a road blockade at Bantala Square on Tikarpada-Purunakatak-Sambalpur road for over seven hours alleging the death occurred due to negligence of Forest department personnel. The traffic disruption on the last day of the year caused serious inconvenience to commuters.
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Villagers said a herd of three elephants has been roaming the area for the past three days, creating panic. During the protest, Angul Assistant Conservator of Forests Krushnachandra Sahu, Bantala Ranger Prasanna Kumar Sahu, and Bantala IIC Natabar Nanda reached the site and held talks with the protesters.
Following discussions, the officials gave written assurances to meet the villagers’ demands. These included installation of solar fencing around the village, setting up of three high-mast lights along the elephant corridor, and supplying related equipment to the village community centre. They also assured appointment of the deceased woman’s husband and one other villager as ‘Gaja Sathi’ (elephant protection volunteers).
After the assurances, the protesters withdrew the agitation, released the detained forest ranger and guard, and traffic movement was restored. Meanwhile, police seized the body and sent it to the district headquarters hospital, Angul for postmortem, officials said.
PNN