Father of an ‘elephant whisperer’ was killed while a herd of elephants were being driven away by the Forest personnel from Biramitrapur area in Sundargarh district on Wednesday evening.
Marius Toppo, father of Nirmala Toppo, who became a celebrity after she steered 11 wild elephants away from the Steel City few months ago, died being crushed by the pachyderms while the operation was underway, sources said.
A herd of as many as 17 elephants had entered the BSl mines area, 3 km from Biramitrapur, under Rourkela Forest Division on Tuesday night from Jharkhand jungle, triggering panic among the villagers. On Wednesday morning, the jumbos that had trespassed into Raiboga area four days back were seen roaming in Deokarn jungle under Biramitrapur range.
Biramitrapur Forest Ranger J Oram said that the herd had come from Jharkhand via Kendumunda, Jamankira, Raibaga, Jhunmur, Kadebahal and Andhari.