Rendered jobless by lockdown, siblings 'desert' 85-year-old mother in Odisha

BERHAMPUR: Loss of employment due to the lockdown and the consequent hardships allegedly prompted two siblings to abandon their 85-year-old mother near Loharakhandi bridge under Bhanjanagar police limits on Thursday.

Police rescued the woman and admitted her to a hospital. The octogenarian was identified as Bijaya Patnaik of Golanthara. She had gone to live with her married daughter at Jagannathprasad after the two sons left for Kolkata in search of work.

Though poor, the daughter took care of her mother. On Wednesday, the two sons Ramesh and Rabi reached their sister’s home after losing employment due to pandemic.

The poverty stricken daughter apparently expressed her inability to cover for the sustenance of the brothers and suggested they took care of Bijaya.

Aggrieved, the two siblings took their mother in an autorickshaw and reached Bhanjanagar. They alighted near Loharakhandi bridge and carried their ailing mother to the banks of the river. Locals noticed this from a distance and suspected that the woman might have been a Covid victim.

Upon reaching the spot, they were shocked to see the woman alive and crying. As the two brothers tried to flee, the locals detained them and informed police.

Bhanjanagar police reached the spot and shifted the woman to Bhanjanagar hospital and detained the two siblings.  Meanwhile, the Bhanjanagar Sub-collector has asked the hospital authorities to treat the elderly woman free of cost.

Two poachers held with venison

Forest personnel arrested two poachers and seized 40 kg of venison from their possession at Bagapatia village within Bhitarkanika National Park here on Friday.

The arrested duo was identified as Krushnachandra Parida and Sasanka Maiti. Acting on a tip off, forest officials raided the village and apprehended the poachers.

The accused confessed that they had trapped a deer that had strayed into the nearby fields on Thursday night and killed it to sell the meat, said DFO Bikash Ranjan Dash.

The deer hide was also recovered from their possession. The duo was booked under Sections 9, 27, 29 and 35 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 and produced in court.