Over 250 staffers, including officers from Karnataka forest department, police and revenue officers strived for four days to drive the herd, which included four tuskers, back to Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary.
The elephants, which entered the human habitat, camped at Kuppegala village which is near to Siddaramanahundi, the hometown of chief minister Siddaramaiah. The forest officials, with the help of Dasara elephants Abhimanya and Balarama drove back the elephants towards Malavalli forest. The elephants, which halted for a few hours on the outskirts of Purigali village, walked towards the forest at 8.30pm.
Around 50 forest staff, including DCF (territorial) Karikalan, are still at the forest area to prevent elephant from returning to the village.
Elephant tramples man in Kodagu
A man was killed by a wild elephant in Thithimathi village on Saturday. The deceased is Raju, 58, a retired employee of social welfare department. The incident happened the elephant entered Thithimathi, only to be chased by villagers and forest department staff who used firecrackers and drums to drive it back into the woods. In the melee, the panick-stricken elephant entered a narrow lane where Raju was standing and attacked him. It also destroyed a shop in the area. A compensation of Rs 2 lakh has been to the victim’s family.