Forest officials are struggling hard to drive a Makhna elephant (male jumbo without a tusk), which has been wreaking havoc in areas in and around Bhavanisagar.
According to locals, the elephant had killed a woman and a man and had injured two more persons. The jumbo had also destroyed standing crops at Uyilampalayam, Kurumbapalayam and Kodepalayamnear Vilamundi.
Following appeals from villagers, a 70-member team of forest officials from Sathy, Bhavanisagar, Thukkanaikkanpalayam and Thalavadi regions on Friday launched a combined operation to drive the elephant away. However, the officials were yet to succeed in their attempt.
According to sources, members of the special squad are camping at Anna Nagar, Kurumbapalayam, Manalmedu, Valkaradu, Othapanaimarakadu and Seerangarayankaradu for the past 2 days.
Meanwhile, in Dharmapuri, a 55-year-old woman was trampled to death by a jumbo near Harur on Friday night. Sources said that a herd of six elephants from the forests in Andhra Pradesh strayed into Dharmapuri jungles fifteen days back and were wandering in villages around Pappireddipatti and Harur. On Friday night, herd entered a residential area near Veppampatti and trampled K Pathma, wife of Kumaresan, former president of Veppampatti panchayat, to death.