COIMBATORE: Three weeks since the deployment of two kumkis, a wild elephant that allegedly killed an elderly person at Varappalayam near Thadagam has not returned to human habitation.
A forest department officer said there are no plans to capture and relocate the elephant. Currently, a lone kumki Chinnathambi is deployed in Varappalayam to chase away elephants that come out of the forest.
Heeding to farmers demand, the forest department deployed two kumki elephants - Suyambu and Muthu - from the Kozhikamuthi camp. But they were sent back as they went into musth.
“The problematic elephant has joined a herd, which consists of six to eight elephants. We are monitoring it and 20 staff have been deployed on the forest boundaries. In the last three weeks, the animal came out twice but did not cause trouble,” an officer said.
On January 2, the elephant had killed 69-year-old K. Natarajan of Dhaliyur near Thadagam.
“The animal will be relocated only if it continues to create problems. It has been quiet for 3 weeks,” the officer added.