COIMBATORE: Two persons died in two elephant attacks in two villages situated less than five kilometres from each other near Thadagam in the Coimbatore forest range on Thursday morning.
The first incident took place at 2.45 am on farmland owned by A Ramachandran near Mangarai.
His son-in-law P Mahesh Kumar (36), who was guarding the land, tried to chase away an elephant but got trampled by it. The animal allegedly stayed for some time near the body. Following information, a forest department team visited the spot and chased away the animal inside the forest and sent his body for postmortem to Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital (CMCH). The land is located 500 metres from the Mangarai forest.
Hours later, around 7 am, a 67-year-old man died in an elephant attack at Kodungaraipallam near Anaikatti. Sources said the victim M Marudhachalam of Thuvaipathi went to relieve himself in the land belonging to Aavin where bushes have grown abundant due to lack of maintenance when he was attacked by an elephant from a herd of three animals.
“Our team inspected the spot and confirmed that he died due to the elephant attack. We have deployed additional staff to chase away elephants that enter Anaikatti from Kerala along the stream,” said an officer.
As news of the deaths spread, farmers urged the forest department to relocate the lone elephant which killed Mahesh Kumar claiming the animal is not only killing people but is also a frequent crop raider. They alleged that the elephant had killed three persons so far.
Five persons have died in elephant attacks in the Coimbatore forest division so far this year.
Two deaths occurred in Coimbatore and in Periyanacikenpalayam, while one took place in Boluvampatti. Only five people died in jumbo attacks in the division last year.
M Mahalakshmi, president of the women’s wing of Tamil Nadu Farmers Association, said the elephant, which is big in size and has long tusks, that killed Mahesh Kumar should be relocated deep inside the forest.
“We came to know that the elephant spent 15 minutes near Mahesh Kumar’s body. We have seen this similar behaviour when the elephant killed two persons earlier in the PN Palayam forest range. Apart from people, the animal is also chasing the forest field-level staff when they try to chase away him into the forest. The state government should come forward to help the families of the deceased,” she added.