Kendrapara, Feb. 18: A mob went berserk and attacked four forest officials today at Chakroda village on the outskirts of Kendrapara town to register their protest against wild boar attack.

The rogue wild boar on rampage had killed a man and injured at least six persons on 13 February in a field at Hatabanapur village within the Derabish police station jurisdiction. Ironically, the village areas located far away from the forest and the villagers had never encountered vandalism by wild animals in the past.

The animal had reappeared again today, injuring a local resident when the exercise was on to capture the animal. This enraged the panicked people. Later, they launched attack on forest personnel engaged in the exercise to catch the animal. The mob has ransacked a vehicle that was hired by the forest department, said a forest official.

The injured officials were Ashok Jena (forest range officer), Dillip Champatiray (deputy forest range officer), Umesh Barik (forester) and Pradeep Bhuyan (forester).

Round-the-clock vigil by armed police and forest personnel has been stepped up in a cluster of villages on the outskirts of district headquarters township with the rogue wild boar wreaking havoc in these areas.

Angry villagers staged road blockade near Balia junction paralysing the vehicular traffic on the busy Cuttack-Chandballi state highway.

As man-wildlife conflict has reached a flashpoint at Hatabanapur, Baspur and Chakroda villages, authorities are in a spot of bother to drive away the intruder.

The animal has been playing hide and seek since the past five days. The forest officials do not favour the killing of the animal. Besides, it would be an offence under wildlife law to kill the wild boar, as it has not been proclaimed as a rogue animal. Caging the animal by net is also quite a task. Taming the animal by the use of tranquillising bullets is the sole option left with the forest personnel.

Driving away the animal is destined to trigger further trouble as it may stray into urban areas of Kendrapara.