A couple was electrocuted after they came in contact with a live wire laid to poach wild boars in Koraput district of Odisha on Monday.

Bolaram Galel and his wife Bala had gone into a forest on Monday to collect firewood but when they did not return even after sunset, the villagers began a search operation and ventured into the forest fearing wild animals might have targeted them.

To their utter shock, they found the bodies of the Galel couple lying on the road near the electric wire that was laid to poach the animals.

Following their deaths, the locals started an agitation demanding compensation for the family. Police reached the spot and assured the victims’ family about the payment of compensation. The police also assured to initiate action against the culprits involved in laying the live wire for poaching animals.

In December 2023, two minors were electrocuted to death and another man sustained critical injuries after they came in contact with an electric trap laid for poaching wild boars in Sonepur, Odisha. The father and his son and nephew had gone to the paddy field to look for one of their missing goats. However, as they failed to return to their home late at night, nearby villagers went around searching for them and found them in a state of unconsciousness. All of them were rushed to the hospital where the two minors were declared dead.

People in the state’s forest areas lay live wire to protect their vegetable cultivation and paddy from the attack of wild boars and elephants. Unfortunately, sometimes, the pachyderms also fall victim and die.

In the recent case, Chandaka Wildlife Sanctuary’s iconic elephant Ramu died of electrocution in August 2024. Ramu was 40.