Elephant tramples couple to death near Cuttack

Bhubaneswar: A couple in Cuttack’s Jagatpur area was trampled to death by a female elephant on Wednesday afternoon. Another female elephant from the same herd was found dead at Jobra barrage gate.
The bodies of the deceased, Kamala Nayak (65) and Ananda Chandra Behera (80), were sent for postmortem so that the forest department can begin the compensation procedure for the next of kin of the deceased.
Panic gripped the city on Wednesday as the female jumbo, along with her calf, ran amok across Jagatpur, an industrial area under the Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC). Through the public address system, forest department personnel asked people not to venture out and chase the animals. After two hours, the wildlife wing’s staff tranquillised the killer elephant, while the calf was still roaming near human habitation.
“We brought the tranquillised elephant to an isolated location. Compensation will be provided to the family members of the deceased,” said PCCF (wildlife) S K Popli.