A 55-year-old daily- wage worker was trampled by a wild elephant at
Kanive Basavanahalli village in Alur t aluk on Friday night.
The deceased is Chikkanna Gowda. The incident occurred around 6.30pm
when Chikkana was returning home after the day’s work at a coffee
plantation. His house is just 400m away from the plantation.
The elephant attacked Gowda when he was walking on a narrow road near
the plantation, following which his body was torn into three pieces.
On seeing the elephant, Chikkanna screamed for help, but he was killed
before people could come to his rescue. Gowda, a native of Hulse
village in Shanivara Santhe in Kodagu district, was staying with his
daughter at Basavanahalli. His wife died a year ago.
After coming to know about the incident, deputy forest officer
Ravindrakumar, RFO Anantharaju and police rushed to the spot. The
villagers expressed their ire on the forest officers, claiming
frequent attacks on people by elephants have made them wary of
venturing out, especially in evenings because of power outages. They
urged the officials to catch the elephant.
MLA H K Kumaraswamy, who visited the spot, promised Rs 5 lakh
compensation for the victim’s family.
Forest officials suspect the elephant might have come from Karibetta
in Rangana Betta forest area. Ravindrakumar has formed two teams,
headed by RFO Hemanthkumar, to trace the elephant. Between 2003 and
2016, 16 persons died due to attack by elephants in the region, and Rs
50 lakh has been given as compensation to the bereaved families. The
for est department has shifted 28 elephants to other forest areas.