- By Imran Zafar
- Thu, 28 Dec 2023 03:47 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
A farmer died by suicide after his crop was damaged due to the menace of wild elephants in Odisha's Sambalpur district. The farmer, identified as Birbar Das, drank pesticide after he witnessed his crop destroyed by the wild elephants. Das was a landless farmer who used to cultivate his crop on a shared field with other farmers.
Birbar Das lived in Katarkela village of Jamankira administrative block. Police said similar to previous years, Das cultivated paddy on a shared farming land with some other farmers. But things didn't go his way and before harvesting his cultivation was ruined by the wild elephants.
Distressed over the damaged crop, Birbar Das consumed pesticide on Sunday evening. After the family members noticed him they rushed Das to Kuchinda Hospital for treatment. Given his ailing condition, the landless farmer was shifted to Burla Hospital for better, but he died on Monday night while undergoing treatment at the hospital.
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The farmers reportedly mentioned about the wild elephants destroying their cultivation in the region to the forest department. The locals claimed that forest department personnel did not take any actions to resolve the problem. Police have registered a case of suicide and an investigation is underway.
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