Two brothers sustained critical injuries after being attacked by a wild boar while they were going to an agriculture field for crop cutting at Bhopal village under Mahakalapada block within Gahirmatha forest range division.
Ranger Subrat Kumar Patra told they were identified as Tikan Bhuiyan and his younger brother Sapan Bhuiyan of of Ostira village.
Tikan was going for paddy crop cutting with his family members, when a wild boar, that had strayed from the nearby forest and was hiding at the crop field, attacked him. Soon, Sapan went to rescue his brother, but the wild boar left both seriously injured.
The locals in the nearby agriculture field rescued the duo brothers and shifted them to the District Headquarters Hospital for treatment.
Generally during the paddy harvesting time, wild boar attack becomes a regular feature at the fringes of Bhitarkanika park. Especially in Mahakalapada and Rajnagar blocks, the wild boars generally create havoc by trespassing into the paddy fields after sneaking from the nearby jungle and destroy paddy crops. The victim villagers have demanded steps to contain the wild boar menace in the locality.
When contacted, Rajnagar Mangrove DFO Bimal Prasanna Acharya stated that the forest personnel have engaged anti –depredation squad along with some youths to drive out the wild boars.
