Sundargarh: A forest department employee was manhandled by angry locals in Odisha’s Sundargarh district after a village youth was trampled to death by a wild tusker on Sunday.
Sources said one Dharanidhar Patra of Rugudisahi village under Bonai police limits in the district was killed by a tusker while he went out to answer nature’s call. Realising that the animal was targeting him, Patra reportedly ran towards his house. But the elephant chased and trampled him to death.
Reacting to his screams, villagers rushed to the spot and drove away the tusker. They found Patra in a pool of blood and rushed him to hospital, where he was declared dead.
Unable to cope with his untimely demise and regular elephant attacks in their locality, angry villagers blamed Forest department Para staff Tapan Kumar Nayak for the incident. They accused him and his associates for their inability to drive away elephants from their area and Patra’s death.
After a heated argument with Nayak, the villagers reportedly manhandled him. He was rescued by local police, who pacified the villagers and were investigating the matter, sources added.
