In yet another case of human-elephant conflict, a 45 year old villager was trampled to death on the outskirts of Bengaluru in the early hours of Sunday. Thimmaiah, a farmer from Nayakanahalli in Magadi taluk of Ramanagar district, is suspected to have been trampled by a lone tusker that might have strayed out of the Savandurga forests around 4 am, an official from the Ramanagara division of forest department said.
“Villagers saw the body of Thimmaiah only in the morning. It was in a very bad shape,” he added. As the news of the death spread, angry villagers gathered at Nayakanahalli gate and shouted slogans against the forest department for its alleged failure to tackle the elephant menace in the district. Rangaiah K, a villager, said elephants invading crops and disrupting life has become common. “We demand transfer of officials from the forest department who are not acting on the grievances,” he added.
The villagers also blocked the main road connecting Ramanagara and Magadi, bringing the vehicular traffic on the festival day to a grinding halt.
Magadi police station had tough time controlling the crowd. Finally, the protest was withdrawn after local politicians intervened and gave assurance to address the human-elephant conflict issue. A compensation of Rs 50,000 has been announced for the family of Thimmaiah.