COIMBATORE: A 42-year-old Bihar native was injured in a wild elephant attack near Bharathiar University on Monday.
According to sources, the incident took place at 5.45 am when R Manoj went to relieve himself in the bushes outside the campus with four other workers. The animal attacked him in his rib slightly, which led to bleeding and tearing of the skin. It went inside the forest after the workers raised the alarm. He was admitted to hospital and is stable, a forest department official said.
Prabhakar, member of the Rapid Response Team (RRT) donated blood to the victim in the hospital.
Sources said Manoj was engaged in the construction of a building near the mathematics department on the BU premises. Though a toilet was built near the construction site, the workers allegedly went out of the campus to attend to nature's call.
Further, the official said that on Friday, they convened a meeting with BU authorities and told them to carry out maintenance of Elephant Proof Trenches (EPT) and install Solar fences where there is no compound wall within the campus since the wild elephant movement is high this year.
Following the incident, the forest department handed over compensation of Rs 59,100 to the injured and staff will be engaged to monitor the animal.