KEONJHAR: People of a town in Orissa's
Keonjhar district executed a barbaric revenge on an elephant that had killed
eight people over the last two years.
On Tuesday evening, when the
elephant raided the area for fruits, a mob doused it with petrol and set it on
fire. Its entire body in flames, the elephant ran wildly in all directions
looking for water. But the mob beat drums and threw firecrackers to block its
escape routes. Blinded with pain and disoriented, it would crash to its knees,
struggle to its feet and run around again.
The elephant was on the
verge of collapse when a downpour put out the flames. He was last seen on
Wednesday, severely burnt but walking on NH-215. Forest officials said they have
no information about the condition of the elephant.
"We have no
information about this incident. I will definitely start an inquiry," assistant
conservator of forests Bimalendu Acharya said.