Two persons trampled to death by wild elephant in Odisha

Two persons were trampled to death and four others seriously injured by a wild elephant in Odisha's Jajpur district, police said on Friday.

The incident happened at Godipatana village under the jurisdiction of Panikoili police station on Thursday night, the police said.

The wild elephant entered human habitation in Godipatana-Sankhachila area of the district and attacked six persons.

While two men died on the spot, four others received serious injuries, a police officer said.

The deceased have been identified as 55-year-old Iswar Chandra Das and 60-year-old Chintamani Ram, both residents of Godipatana village.

All the four persons injured in the attack were rushed to Jajpur Road Area hospital, the police officer said.

Later, they were shifted to SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack since their condition deteriorated, he said.

An investigation has been initiated, the police officer said.

As a precautionary measure, all schools in Korei block remained closed on Friday, the Collector of Jajpur district, Ranjan Kumar Dash, said.

Thursday's incident triggered panic among people, he added.

Sources said two wild elephants had strayed into Korei and Rasulpur blocks a couple of days ago, destroyed paddy stocks and damaged some thatched houses.

One of the two elephants strayed into Korei area once again on Thursday night.

Despite repeated efforts, the forest officials and residents of different villages failed to drive the elephant away into the forest, away from the human settlement.

Thursday's attack took place barely two days after another wild tusker killed one person and injured six others in Sukinda area of the district, the police officer said.