According to reports, the two brothers of Binida village of Saharapada tehsil under Ghatagan block had gone to the nearby forest in the morning when they stumbled on a landmine, which suddenly went off.
Hearing the blast, the villagers rushed to the forest and admitted the two seriously injured brothers to a nearby Primary Health Centre (PHC). As their condition became critical, they were shifted to the district headquarters hospital.
On being informed, police rushed to the blast site for an on-the-spot investigation.
Preliminary investigation revealed that the landmine was planted with a purpose to kill wild elephants. However, whether it the handiwork of villagers or the poachers is yet to be known.
It may be mentioned here that several herds of wild elephants from the neighbouring Jharkhand have entered the forests in Keonjhar recently and destroyed a vast stretch of standing crops and thatched houses in some villages.
