A herd of elephants coming from Malur to Hoskote trampled Manjunath, a photographer, to death when he reportedly got too close to the herd to take pictures.
This is the fourth death caused by this herd, which is being hounded by mobs of people all along the route. Farmers Munimallappa (60) of Sonnepalli, Ramakrishnappa (55) of Chikanda Halli and Chandrappa (45) of Abbenahalli, who were working in a eucalyptus grove, were trampled on Saturday.
Manjunath (22), a resident of Hoskote town in Bangalore Rural district and stringer for a Kannada daily, reportedly rushed to take photographs of the herd near Arohalli lake in Hoskote taluk.
Sources said, “He went near the herd to take pictures. Some of the elephants chased him. He tried to escape by climbing a tree, but a tusker pulled down the tree and trampled him to death on the spot.”
The herd has been in Karnataka for the last five weeks and entered from Sulagiri forest beyond Hosur in Tamil Nadu.
A press release from Forest Minister Ramanath Rai said, “For the past few days, people have been gathering in mobs of nearly 5,000 to see the elephants and have disturbed them.”
Rai said that because of the mobs, the original herd had splintered into two or three groups and were running amok.
“The Forest Department, along with the police, is trying to divert the herd to the Bannerghatta National Park area. We request the public to cooperate with us in this attempt,” he said. He has also announced compensation for the families of the victims.