In a highly tragic incident, a woman and her son were trampled to death by an elephant at Sialjor village under the Kuanrmunda police limits in Sundargarh district in the wee hours on Thursday.
According to reports, Sambari Pradhan (37) and her five-year-old son Satrughna were crushed to death by the elephant when both were asleep in their house.
Tension prevailed in the Kacharu gram panchayat area as hundreds of villagers gheraoed forest officials and demanded a remedial measures from the Forest Department so that elephants do not enter into their villages time and again.
“We informed the irate locals that there is a proposal to instal solar fencing and dig trenches in strategic locations of Kacharu gram panchayat to keep elephants away from the human habitations,” said local Forest Ranger Raj Kumar Das.
The locals did not allow the forest officials to lift the dead bodies till 3 pm on Thursday. It was only after a written assurance to them was given by the officials for taking appropriate measures that they allowed removal of the bodies.
Sources said a herd of five elephants had entered the gram panchayat under the Kuanrmunda Forest Range late on Wednesday night. According to forest officials, a group their staffs chased them till midnight and had left them out of the human habitation area. But the herd reportedly returned at about 3.30 am and entered Sialjor village under Kacharu gram panchayat.
It is to be recalled that a herd of five elephants had on Tuesday entered a school premises, 7 km from the village. The jumbos were dispersed by locals from the school, following which the animals headed towards Sialjor village.
Agitated locals demanded that the Government pay compensation to the deceased’s family and alleged that the Forest Department has been precious little in saving people from frequent elephants’ attacks.