JOIN USThe 25-year-old pachyderm spotted near Shivanahalli Kodige was darted by a team of experts.
The tusker, after running hither and thither, fell to ground in the nearby coffee plantation.
As the animal regained consciousness, a team of tamed elephants dragged it for nearly half-a-kilometre.
The tusker, which later walked for a distance of about five metres, collapsed and never woke up.
Divisional Forest Officer Ambadi Madhav told Deccan Herald that the tusker might have died of cardiac arrest. “In fact, the jumbo regained consciousness after darting and walked nearly one km. I am sure the elephant has not died of suffocation. There were marks of bullet injuries on its body. Two jumbos had died under similar circumstances in Kodagu district too”, he added.
Villagers, however, alleged that the jumbo died of suffocation as it was dragged with a rope.
A few took strong exception to the ‘crude’ method followed to capture rogue elephants.