NILGIRIS/ERODE: Three persons were killed in two separate wild elephant attacks in Nilgiris and Erode districts.
At Karakunnu in Devarsholai Panchayat near Gudalur, two persons — Ravi (60) and Lingaraj (68) — were killed on Sunday night. The incident occurred just 200m from their houses as they were walking back home on a mud road along the tea estates after buying groceries around 9.30pm.
However, their deaths only came to light on Monday morning. The relatives of the deceased and locals, including Gudalur AIADMK MLA Pon Jayaseelan, refused to allow the body to be taken for postmortem and urged the Gudalur forest department officials to prevent such deaths in the future.
Jayaseelan said the wild elephants are frequenting into human habitation by crossing the un-maintained Elephant Proof Trench (EPT).
“Our demand is that officials drive back those wild elephants into nearby Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) immediately as there are high chances that the pachyderms are entering Gudalur region frequently from MTR. We have also demanded the forest department provide jobs for the kin of the deceased,” said Pon Jayaseelan.
The protest began at 8.30pm and was called off only at 11.45 pm when the protesters allowed the bodies to be taken for postmortem.
They told forest officials to carry out maintenance and widen EPTs for 27 km.
Karakunnu officials said they have been monitoring wild elephants using thermal drone cameras and are taking steps to curb them for entering human habitats.
DFO P Devaraj Gudalur termed the deaths unfortunate, adding that they are taking steps to prevent further escalation of the human-animal conflict.
In a similar incident, an 80-year-old woman was killed by a wild elephant when she went into the forest to collect tamarind in Bargur Hills of Erode. The deceased was identified as M Meena, a resident of Kakkayanur, a tribal settlement.
According to sources, Meena went into the forest area adjacent to the village on Saturday evening to collect tamarind but did not return home. On Sunday evening, women from the village who went into the forest to collect firewood found Meena dead with serious injuries.
Bargur police and forest department personnel rushed to the spot, and an inquiry revealed that Meena was killed by a wild elephant. Her body was subsequently recovered from the forest area and sent to Anthiyur government hospital. Further inquiries are on.