Cuttack: In yet another incident of man-animal conflict, a farmer was trampled to death by a tusker at Kalijanga village under Athgarh police limits of Tigiria block in Cuttak district early Saturday morning.
The deceased was identified as Shyam Sundar Mohanty. Sources said the incident occurred while Mohanty along with other locals had gone to his farm to collect brinjals.
Meanwhile, a tusker strayed into the farm from nowhere and attacked the people while they were plucking the brinjals. Seeing the pachyderm, everyone fled helter-skelter in a bid to save their lives. Some even climbed trees in the farm to escape the attack.
However, Mohanty failed to escape from the spot and was attacked by the tusker. The animal lifted him and battered him to the ground before trampling him to death, leading to his death on the spot.
The animal also damaged the vehicles including motorbikes and cycles of the farmer that were parked near the farm, before straying into a nearby forest.
The incident spread outrage as the forest officials arrived late at the spot even after being informed. Demanding compensation for the kin of the deceased the angry villagers gheraoed the forest officials.
They alleged the forest officials of arriving late and did not take any steps to drive away the tusker. The agitators relented after Athgarh Ranger assured of necessary compensation as per government norms.
“The forest department has declared a compensation of Rs 4 lakh. Apart from that, we assure to provide a job in our department to Mohanty’s son, who is currently pursuing his graduation,” said ranger Rabindra Nayak.