Elephant tramples 2 Bargarh women to death

Sambalpur: Two women from Turcha village under Gaisilet police station limits in Bargarh district were trampled to death by a wild tusker on Wednesday morning while collecting Mahua flowers in a nearby forest under the Padampur forest range.
The victims, identified as Ketaki Sahu (48) and Kumodini Sahu (45), were neighbours. Ketaki died on the spot, while Kumodini succumbed to her injuries during treatment at VSS Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (VIMSAR), Burla.
Bargarh divisional forest officer (DFO) Bikram Dev Patnaik told TOI that the elephant had travelled around 25 kilometres overnight from Balangir district to Padampur in Bargarh. "The tusker came from outside our range. If it had a habitat here, we could have warned villagers not to enter the forest. We were informed of the deaths around 6 am," said Bikram.
The state govt has sanctioned Rs 6 lakh ex gratia for each of thefamilies. Ten per cent of the compensation amount will be disbursed within 48 hours, the DFO said.