UDAGAMANDALAM: Kethan (45), a forest guard, was trampled to death in front of his house by a wild elephant during the wee hours of Tuesday.
The incident happened when the guard came out of his house at Mukkety in Nelakottai range coming under the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve in the early morning. On seeing him opening the door and stepping out, the wild elephant that was waiting near the house attacked him and trampled him to death and went away. On hearing the cries, neighbours rushed to the spot and found of Kethan lying in a pool of blood.
He was rushed to the GHand a postmortem was done. Since the area comes under the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, wildlife officials visited the spot and assured compensation and assistance as per government rules.
Meanwhile, the synchronised three-day elephant census started in the Nilgiris forests including the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve and other parts of TN, in Kerala and Karnataka on Tuesday.