Two CRPF men trampled to death by elephant near Bengaluru's Bannerghatta
BENGALURU: Two personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), including an Assistant Sub-inspector, were trampled to death by an elephant in Kaggalipura forest range in Bannerghatta National Park-Taralu Estate in south Bengaluru early on Sunday.
The deceased are Puttappa Lamani (34), a native of Chirabadagi village in Haveri district, and Dakshinamurthy, (52), the ASI hailing from Andiyappanur village in Vellore district of Tamil Nadu.
Kaggalipura police said the incident occurred around 6.30 am when Dakshinamurthy and Puttappa were on their way to attend nature’s call in the open near the CRPF training camp located on the fringes of Bannerghatta National Park. They crossed paths with an elephant, said to be a makna (bull elephant without tusks) which was in search of water, when it attacked them. Dakshinamurthy was killed on the spot while Puttappa was brought dead to a hospital.
Forest officials and Kaggalipura police inspected the spot and further investigations are on.
Forest officials said elephants are known to frequent the region where the incident occurred. They added that villagers in Uttarahalli and Nelamangala had noticed two elephants which were heading towards Kaggalipura on Saturday.A few temporary sheds have been set up for training of the CRPF personnel, but there are no toilet facilities. A CRPF officer said routine training camps are conducted at the Taralu Estate Centre and the personnel are sent in batches. Dogs are also trained here.
Happened in 30 seconds
Dakshinamurthy and Puttappa were on duty and the whole incident happened within 30 seconds. So, there was no time for them to react. No personnel opened fire in the air to drive away the elephant, according to J Rajendran, a senior CRPF officer. He said, “We have discussed the incident with forest officials. Government will pay compensation to the families of the personnel.”