Two killed, one injured in elephant attack in Odisha’s Angul district

Following the elephant attack leading to the death of two persons, locals blocked the Angul-Bantala road by burning tyres and demanded Rs.20 lakh compensation and government jobs for each of the bereaved families

Two persons including a woman were trampled to death and one person was critically injured by a tusker on Thursday morning in Odisha’s Angul district, officials said.

(Representative Photo)

Officials said three persons were on their morning ablutions when they came under attack from an elephant. Two from Angul’s Pateli village were killed, and one from nearby Saharaguda village sustained critical injuries, they said.

Jhili Majhi, a 42-year-old housewife, was crushed to death in front of her house, while Shankar Biswal (62) was trampled when he went to a nearby canal. Akshaya Nayak of Saharaguda village was admitted to the district headquarters hospital, added officials.

According to the officials, the tusker has been creating havoc in the area for the last few days.

Following the elephant attack leading to the death of two persons, locals blocked the Angul-Bantala road by burning tyres and demanded Rs.20 lakh compensation and government jobs for each of the bereaved families. Several vehicles remained stranded following the blockade.

According to the villagers, the region had witnessed at least 15 deaths due to elephant attacks in a span of one month. In April-June 2023, 57 people were killed in alleged elephant attacks, Odisha’s highest ever for a quarter as human-elephant conflict continued to worsen.

Biswajit Mohanty, a wildlife conservationist, said that coal mining in Angul district is the reason behind the rising human-elephant conflict.

“The elephants are stressed due to coal and stone quarry mining. With their corridors disturbed, they are running amok. But the forest department officials are not interested in saving lives,” said Mohanty.