Elephant kills two villagers in Odisha, India

Peeved pachyderm

    

Two villagers were trampled to death by a tusker in a forest near Nuakheta village here on Thursday morning.

They along with a few locals had gone to collect mangoes which fell on the ground of the forest after Wednesday night's storm when the incident occurred. While others managed to escape, the two were attacked by the elephant. They have been identified as Dillip Pradhan (35) and Kadali Maharana (34).

Reports stated that a herd of elephants is roaming near Nuapkheta village for the last two months. Though the villagers have appealed to the officials of the Angul Forest Division several times to drive away the pachyderms, their pleas elicited no response.

Blaming the forest authorities' negligence for the death of two villagers, irate locals ransacked Forest Beat House, damaged the watch tower and the check gate besides some vehicles. They also demanded immediate solar fencing around their village. Regional Chief Conservator of Forest Anup Nayak said steps would be taken for solar fencing of the village. Despite several attempts, the Divisional Forest Officer of Angul could not be contacted.