NILGIRIS: A 34-year-old tribal man was trampled to death by an elephant at Adderly Estate in Coonoor on Sunday night. The deceased has been identified as L Vijayakumar, an estate labourer residing at Sembukkarai tribal settlement. The incident happened around 10 pm when he was walking home.
Police said an estate supervisor noticed the dead body of Vijayakumar. After inspecting the spot, forest department saw elephant footprint and confirmed that he was trampled to death.
“After visiting Coonoor, Vijayakumar got down at the Adderly estate bus stop and was walking to his settlement, which was five km away when the elephant attacked him,” said forest sources.
The area was poorly lit due to which Vijayakumar may nit have spotted the animal, police added. The forest department has posted ten personnel in the area to chase elephants inside the forest. After post-mortem examination at the Coonoor GH, Vijayalumar’s body was handed over to his family. An interim solatium of Rs 50,000 was given to his wife.