THRISSUR: Thrissur residents on Saturday witnessed a shocking sight of a captive elephant charging at vehicles and morning walkers as the tusker — identified as Shivam Lakshmi Ayyappan — ran amok. Though the residents are used to the sight of caparisoned elephants roaming around the city for parades, the whole episode of a tusker on rampage inside the crowded city, entering houses and wreaking havoc — that too on a fine morning, was something out of the blue.
It was around 9am. Tusker Shivam Lakshmi Ayyappan had participated in the elephant parade as a part of siveli at Thiruvambady Sree Krishna temple. The tusker was then taken to Thekkinkadu Maidan after visiting the Paramekkavu temple.
While clicking photographs of the tusker in front of East Gopuram of Sree Vadakkumnatha Temple, the elephant without any provocation turned violent and ran away with its mahout on top. The jumbo then proceeded to Paramekkavu and then to Chembukkav. On the way, the tusker attacked a car and an autorickshaw, toppling them.
However, no one was injured as people managed to escape from a direct attack from the violent elephant. By around 9.30am, the elephant entered the pocket roads of Gandhi Nagar residential area and forayed into house compounds. The tusker was on a rampage, destroying compound walls and asbestos sheets of the houses here.
“I was about to go out to buy some essential items in the morning. When I opened the gate, what I saw was an elephant walking straight, at high speed passing through the road in front of my house. I was shocked and numb for a minute. People started screaming and I ran inside in fear,” said a woman residing in Gandhi Nagar.
As officials tried hard to keep the situation under control, for almost an hour, the tusker kept people in Thrissur city on tenterhooks. An elephant squad arrived at the spot and managed to subdue the tusker. Amid the chaos, the jumbo suffered wounds on its forehead and also behind its ears.
“It is still unknown what made the tusker angry. There were reports that a stray dog barked at it and suddenly it went violent. Another said the mahout used the ankush against the elephant to make it pose for the photographs,” said V K. Venkitachalam, chairman of heritage animal task force, an NGO working for the welfare of elephants.
He has filed a complaint with the forest department seeking a detailed probe into the whole incident. He alleged that the tusker didn’t possess a proper ownership certificate. He urged the officials to probe into the aspects like on what grounds did the elephant, which is originally from Kollam, was brought to Thrissur.
The tusker was also paraded in Thriprayar Sreerama temple on Friday. Whether it holds the necessary fitness certificate to participate in parades remain unknown.
‘... I thought I’d die... feel lucky to have escaped’
On Saturday morning, Sangeetha was driving to work when suddenly she heard people screaming about an elephant coming her way. In an instant, she felt the force of the vehicle being toppled by the tusker.
Sangeetha is still struggling to believe what she experienced. “It was a narrow escape. I was driving the car and had just made my way from my house. All of a sudden, I heard people screaming about a violent jumbo headed that way.
I tried to reverse the vehicle, but couldn’t as there were too many people trying to flee the scene. I tensed up and literally froze. By the time I could react and get the vehicle moving, the jumbo had made its way to me, and was stabbing at the driver window with its tusks.
Local residents helped me out of the car that was tipped over by the jumbo. They extricated me through the front passenger door,” Sangeetha told TNIE.
“For a moment I thought I would die,” she said, adding, “I feel lucky to have escaped with my life.”
Sangeetha couldn’t even talk after the incident. Amid all the frenzy, however, she remembers seeing a woman rider behind her ditching her two-wheeler just before the attack and fleeing on foot.
Collector seeks report; minister Janeesh visits spot
Thrissur: District collector Sikha Surendran on Saturday sought a report from Thrissur divisional forest officer and assistant conservator of forest (Social forestry) on the incident. As per sources, Thiruvananthapuram native Sivadath is the owner of the elephant and the tusker is insured.
The collector had directed the tahsildar and deputy collector (Disaster management) to take stock of the damage created by the elephant. The collector assured that steps would be taken to compensate for the loss suffered by the affected parties.
Meanwhile, Youth Affairs and Sports Minister O J Janeesh, Rajan Pallan, MLA, and Mayor Niji Justin visited the Gandhi Nagar residential zone and assured all support to the people who incurred loss.