COIMBATORE: A 25-year-old wild elephant was electrocuted after coming into contact with an illegal electric fence at Vedar Colony near Sirumugai on Monday. This is the third tusker death due to electrocution in the last three months in the Coimbatore Forest Division.
Staff from the Sirumugai Forest Range found the elephant lying on an illegal fence installed around a banana grove owned by R Kumar (65) at Vedar Colony. During investigation, forest officials quizzed the owner and farm labourer Bakiyaraj, and found that they had energised the solar fence by illegally connecting it to an AC power supply.
“During the night inspection, we used voltage detectors to check whether the fence was carrying electricity. At that time, there was no power supply. However, the accused allegedly energised the solar fence with AC power around midnight on Sunday, which led to the elephant’s death.
The grove owner, with the help of the labourer, drew electricity directly from the house and illegally connected it to the fence to prevent wild elephants from raiding the banana crop,” Sirumugai Forest Range Officer D Dinesh said.