Farmer hurt as bullet aimed at jumbos hits him
A farmer was seriously injured when a bullet fired by forest officials at elephants, in a bid to chase them away into the forest, hit him near Hebballa reservoir at Vaddaragudi village in the taluk on Saturday. 
The injured farmer has been identified as Mahesh. A herd of four elephants was found near the reservoir in the wee hours, creating panic among the farmers who were on their way to supply milk to the office of the Milk Producers Union.
The jumbos had come from the Metikuppe range of the Nagarhole National Park on Friday and raided the fields. Later, they went to the reservoir to drink water. Even as the scared farmers were running helter-skelter, a crowd gathered at the spot. Panicked, the elephants entered the field of a farmer at Shantipura, even as the other farmers burst crackers to scare the jumbos away. Some of them climbed trees to escape being attacked by the elephants.
Elephants entering the villages is common for people in these parts. Usually, the jumbos return to the forest by night. But on Friday night, the four elephants took shelter among the trees in the fields. This scared the daylights out of the farmers who have their houses in the fields. They are now hesitating to come out of their houses.
On Saturday, after repeated efforts, the forest department officials finally succeeded in sending the jumbos away into the forest. Assistant Conservator of Forests Thammaiah led the operation. Range Forest Officer Mohan Kumar, forest guards Harsha, Kumaraswamy and Janardhan were part of the team.
