DHAMAPURI: A 68-year-old farmer was trampled to death by wild elephants near Pennagaram in Dharmapuri district in the wee hours of Sunday.
The deceased was M Maharajan of Kullathirampatti near the Bevanur Reserved Forest within the Pennagaram Forest Range. His relatives found him dead on his farmland on Sunday morning with severe injuries to his head suggesting crush injuries caused by an elephant.
He had left home the previous night to guard his farm.
Pennagaram Forest Ranger N Rajkumar as well as police personnel from Pennagaram and Hogenakkal stations rushed to the spot.
Maharajan’s body was sent to Pennagaram Government Hospital for autopsy.
Ranger Rajkumar told TNIE that “Maharajan’s farmland adjoins the forest. Two tuskers who had arrived to consume crops attacked him in the wee hours of Sunday and he died on the spot.”
“We have been alerting the people in the surrounding villages of Koothapadi, Keel Nayakanoor, Kullathirampatti not to venture out of their houses near forest boundary in the wee hours or at night. But sometimes, people ignore the forest department’s advice,” he added.
Dharmapuri District Forest Officer S Rajangam, Forest Ranger Rajkumar and his team handed over Rs 50,000 worth cheque as an interim compensation to the relatives of Maharajan. The remaining Rs 9.50 lakh will be released once the family submits the necessary documents.