A 5-year-old male elephant fell into a open well, when a group of three was passing through Balipada village of Bentapada gram panchayat here on Tuesday morning.
The other two elephants stood near the well and kept trumpeting. They attacked a wayfarer Pramod Rout (50) of Balipada village near the spot and crushed him to death.
Soon, irate villagers blocked the State Highway (55) near Chandabali Chhak demanding compensation to the deceased’s family and job to a family member.
They also went on a rampage and attacked the forest personnel and smashed their vehicle, while the latter were trying to chase away the two elephants and rescue the one inside the well. Forester Kishor Parida was injured in the incident.
later, Athagarh DFO Arun Kumar Mishra presented a cheque of Rs 1 lakh as part of compensation and Rs 10,000 for funeral of the deceased to the bereaved family. later, with assistance of local police, the Forest officials used a JCB machine, rescued the elephant and left it in jungle.