Odisha: Elderly man trampled to death by elephants

Baripada: An elderly person was trampled to death by a herd of elephants on Tuesday morning in Odisha's Mayurbhanj district, an official said.

The deceased was identified as Gajendra Mohanta (65), secretary of Jamugadha village forest protection committee.

Mohanta had gone out to attend call of nature when the herd of elephants trampled him to death in Machhua forest in the district.

The local people gheraoed forest officials demanding safety and security of the villagers and compensation to the deceased family.

ALSO READ: CCTV cameras to be installed at police stations, posts in J-K

The villagers alleged that a herd of 30 elephants had entered the area from Dalma elephant sanctuary in Jharkhand and was roaming in the Machhua forest.

Baripada Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Swayam Mallick rushed to the spot and assured the villagers to pay compensation of Rs 4 lakh to the next of the kin of Mahanta.

An ex-gratia amount of Rs 40,000 was handed over to the victim's family for the funeral rites.

ALSO READ: Book to collect excerpts of Gandhi’s writings on non-violent activism