Man Electrocuted by Illegal Animal Trap

A tragic incident occurred in Ganjam district's Patapur police limits where a 42-year-old man, Mehenkal Nayak, died from electrocution early Tuesday. He came into contact with a live wire that was allegedly set to trap wild animals.

Nayak was en route to his farmland with others to protect crops from wild boars when he was fatally injured. He was taken to a hospital in Adapada, where he was pronounced dead.

Police have confiscated electric and GI wires, along with bamboo poles and glass bottles, believed to be used for the illegal trap. An investigation is underway to apprehend those responsible for illegally drawing power from a KV line to establish the deadly snare.

This event is the second electrocution fatality linked to alleged traps in Ganjam within the past week. On October 6, Santosh Kumar Swain, 38, died from contact with a live wire set for hunting wild animals. Police have arrested four individuals in connection with that incident.

Officials indicate that poachers often employ these illegal live-wire traps to hunt wildlife for meat. Farmers also sometimes resort to such methods to safeguard their crops from animals like wild boars. Anti-poaching squads have increased patrols across the district to deter such occurrences, having foiled several trapping attempts recently.