NILGIRIS: Two persons were killed in elephant attacks in two separate incidents, on Tuesday.
In the first incident, a 42-year-old tribal man was killed in a wild elephant attack at Bokkapuram near Masinagudi in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR), on Tuesday morning.
The deceased was identified as R Putmaathan of Thakkal tribal settlement, and the incident occurred when he was heading to Sholur along the forest boundary from his native around 9.30 am.
The animal allegedly stabbed him in the stomach with its tusk and left the spot. Forest department staff took him to Masinagudi government hospital. After first aid, he was taken to Udhagamandalam government hospital for further treatment. However, he was declared dead. “We will hand over `50,000 as initial compensation to his kin and `9.5 lakh after the relatives hand over the death certificate and medical records,” the official added.
The official also said they have fixed four pairs of camera traps to monitor the elephant’s movement, and staff would be engaged to prevent human-elephant conflict.
In a second incident near Rockwood Estate at Nellimattam in Nilakottai on Tuesday evening, Rajesh, a coolie worker, was killed. Following the incident, relatives and residents of Nellimattam staged a protest. They also sought the forest department to put an end to the increasing human-elephant conflict.