A 14-year-old boy was trampled to death at Dodda Maranahalli in Tavarekere police limits on Sunday morning.

The victim was identified as Karthick. He was a class VII student at Government Primary school at Dodda Maranahalli and was the youngest son of Srinivas and Vasanthamma, both workers at a brick kiln.

Police said the village was buzzing with the news that a wild elephant had been spotted in the fields on the outskirts of the village. An official said as it was a holiday a gang of young boys gathered in the fields to catch a glimpse of the elephant.

One of the boys who was with Karthick told police that while others were standing some distance away, Karthick reportedly held the elephant’s tail and tried to pull it. The elephant lost cool and kicked the boy.

He said they were shocked to see the turn of events and fled the spot. Karthick also tried to flee. However he fell into a ditch. The jumbo trampled him in the ditch. The boy died on the spot.

Villagers soon gathered in the fields. Though they tried to spot the elephant, it was nowhere to be seen. The villagers soon alerted the local police and the forest department. The police and forest officials scoured the entire area for the elephant. It was spotted at an abandoned bungalow nearby by late afternoon.

All efforts of the police and forest department staff to move it out failed. It went towards Thippagondanahalli dam towards evening and stayed there for some time. Later, it went towards the Savanadurga forest.

“The officials have driven the tusker back to Savanadurga forest. We do not know how it strayed out of the herd,” said PCCF, Forests and Chief Wildlife Warden G S Prabhu. He said that the department would get cracking on measures to ensure safety of people.

Karthick’s family hailed from Tamil Nadu and were residents of Chandappa Circle. The couple had an elder son named Rajanai, who passed away seven years ago, said the police.