Rogue tusker flips Nano over, occupants safe (India)

Author(s)

Times of India

Date Published
BANGALORE: A raging bull elephant which strayed onto the Mysore-Ramanagaram highway from Bannerghatta National Park, flipped a Tata Nano twice over near Kumbalgod, on Friday midnight. Luckily, the car occupants escaped unscathed.
 
Police said a group of magicians led by Jadugar Srikanth was returning from Ramanagaram after a performance, when their car was attacked by the jumbo crossing the road.
 
The four survived the attack because a truck arrived at the spot in the nick of time. The elephant had flipped the car over twice, and was about to stamp on it when it was distracted by the truck’s headlights. It vanished into the woods.
 
A Bannerghatta park official attributed the incident to the male elephant being in masth, a state of sexual aggression.
 
Earlier in the day, the elephant had damaged a Swift parked inside an ashram premises before it was chased away by forest officials. Tipped off by passersby, police and forest officials visited the spot and burst crackers to chase the elephant away.
 
The passengers of the Nano were rushed to a local hospital, but there were no reports of any injuries. One of them informed police about the animal.
 
“The moment I saw the elephant charge at our car, I knew there was nothing we could do to stop it,” Jadugar Srikanth told officials.