Tusker crushes villager to death in Dhenkanal

Dhenkanal: A tusker trampled a man to death at Mahadia village under Sadar range in Dhenkanal early on Sunday.
The villager was identified as Prasanna Baral (58). The incident occurred when he was on his way to a nearby field to attend nature’s call. Baral was rushed to Dhenkanal district headquarters hospital by some fellow villagers, but was declared brought dead by doctors.
Following the incident, the irate villagers detained three forest guards. Police reached the village after being informed about the detention and rescued them.
The tusker was part of a herd comprising 10 to 12 elephants that strayed into the human settlement around 5 am. The herd had taken refuge in a nearby mango orchard, reports said.
Forest department officials said they are closely tracking the movement of elephants and efforts are on to chase them back into the forest.