Bhubaneswar, Jan 23 – A elderly person was killed in an elephant attack in Bhapur area of Odisha’s Dhenkanal district on Tuesday afternoon, leading to tension in the area as angry villagers protested and staged a road blockade.
The deceased was identified as Nakafodi Dehury of Kotaberena village under Sadar police station in Dhenkanal.
“Dehury had gone to his pulses farm in the afternoon when a wild tusker suddenly attacked the victim leaving him injured severely. The members of the village youth association immediately called the ambulance and Forest Department officials over the phone. However, no one reached the spot for several hours,” villager Shraban Sahoo said.
He said the youths later carried the victim on shoulder for more than 7 km to the old Cuttack-Sambalpur road so that Dehury could be taken to hospital by hiring any vehicle.
“We met some local forest staff midway and requested them to carry the victim to the nearby hospital in their vehicle but they refused. Unfortunately, the ambulance took more than two hours to reach the village. The deceased, however, succumbed to the injuries while undergoing treatment at the District Headquarters Hospital,” Sahoo alleged.
The locals also accused that despite the village’s close proximity to the forest area, no steps have been taken yet by the Forest Department or the district administration to put solar fencing or any other measures to safeguard the village from frequent elephant attacks.
The Divisional Forest Officer, Dhenkanal, said: “We have come to know during initial enquiry that the deceased person had gone inside the forest area despite the warnings of our staff. However, the officers will do a detailed enquiry tomorrow morning to know the actual facts.”
gyan/vd
