Elephant herd strays into Cuttack city, run berserk, trample two to death The New Indian Express September 28, 2022 See link <https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/odisha/2022/sep/28/elephant-herd-strays-into-cuttack-city-runberserk-trampletwo-to-death-2502819.html> for photo. Cuttack city had visitors from the wild, a herd of elephants, on Wednesday kindling panic among the people and culminating in tragedy as the jumbos trampled two persons to death in the wee hours of Wednesday. The two persons crushed to death include a woman. An elephant trampled a man to death at Station Bazar near Jagatpur Golei Square. The second victim was a woman plucking flowers when the elephant lifted her with its trunk and threw her away at Munda Sahi near Jagatpur's old industrial estate, said sources. The identity of the victims is yet to be ascertained. A third person suffered serious injuries in the melee and was admitted to the SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack. The Forest department officials appeared on the spot to bring the situation under control, but their efforts confronted stumbling blocks since the local administration failed to rise to the occasion to control the crowd which kept engulfing the elephants that had dispersed in different directions. Even as the elephants brought death and panic to the Jagatpur area, an adult elephant was found dead in Jobra barrage on Mahanadi river around the same time. Even as the Cuttack City Forest Division was grappling with the situation, the carcass of an adult female elephant was found clinging to gate No 14 at Jobra Barrage. The elephant is suspected to have been washed away while crossing the river. As per available information, a herd comprising two adult females and a calf had strayed into Cuttack city from Athagarh forest division at about 2 am on Tuesday night. Cuttack City Division DFO Ajit Kumar Satapathy said the herd had shown movement towards Athagarh forest division by crossing the river while one adult female elephant got stuck in Barrage and died. While the calf is presently staying put in Nimpur, the adult female one is moving towards Khaira, he added. “While around 100 forest staff have deployed to keep a close watch on the movement of the adult elephant and calf, we have altered locals to remain indoors to avoid any untoward incident till the elephant moves away from the localities,” said Satapathy. Regional Chief Conservator of Forests Bhubaneswar Manoj Mahapatra said the elephants have strayed into the locality from the Khuntuni area of Athagarh via Choudwar after crossing the Birupa river. He said a small herd is still in the Jagatpur industrial area. Forest officials and staff of the City Forest and Chandaka Wildlife Division are at the spot monitoring the movement of elephants. Efforts are on to give solitude to the jumbos as their behaviour continues to remain aggressive. This will help prevent them from attacking further. Accordingly, the entire area has now been cordoned off to ensure that there is no straying or gathering of crowd nearby. https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/odisha/2022/sep/28/elephant-herd-strays-into-cuttack-city-runberserk-trampletwo-to-death-2502819.html