One Killed, Another Battling For Life In Separate Elephant Attacks in Odisha

Bhubaneswar: One person died and another was battling for life in the hospital in separate elephant attacks in Odisha.

In an incident that took place in Rayagada district, a man was killed by a tusker on Friday night when he was sleeping on a make-shift watchtower on treetops to guard the harvested crop. The tusker broke the said structure and killed him.

The deceased has been identified as Salupu Kutruka of Lakhpadar village under Kalyansinghpur block of Raygada block. Being alarmed by Salupu’s screams during the attack, villagers rushed to the spot. On arrival of villagers, the elephant fled from the scene.

The locals tried to rescue Salupu and rush him to a nearby medical for treatment, but he succumbed to his injuries soon. The Forest Department officials have initiated a probe into the incident, sources added.

In another incident, a Para staff engaged by the Odisha Forest Department to track movement of elephants in Sundergarh district was severely injured by a jumbo. He sustained multiple injuries and was struggling for life in a hospital in Rourkela.

As per reports, the incident occurred in Rushimath Forests under Bonai-Tamada Range in Sundergarh district on Friday night, while tracking of movements of elephants. The sudden arrival of a jumbo at the scene, however triggered panic among the monitoring team members.

While others managed to flee, one of them failed to escape. He was chased by the elephant and attacked. He sustained multiple injuries and his leg and rib bones were fractured. The animal also damaged a tracking camera.

Unable to get a clue about his location, his teammates launched a manhunt in the forests. After almost eight long hours of search in the wild in the night, he was finally spotted near a rock. He was profusely bleeding and was struggling for life, sources said.

Initially he was rushed to Bonai Government Hospital. But since his health conditions deteriorated, he was later shifted to Rourkela for further treatment, sources added.

It may be noted that deaths due to elephant attacks is a regular affair in Odisha. Replying to a related question in the Rajya Sabha on Friday, Union Minister of State (MoS) for Forests, Environment and Climate Change Kirti Vardhan Singh had informed the Upper House that as many as 624 people died in Odisha in the last five years in elephant attacks.