Mahout sits atop jumbo for a week

An injured elephant went berserk at an Uttar Pradesh village after the mahout, who had been sitting on its back for the past seven days, managed to jump off and save himself from a certain death.

The pachyderm was unable to sit owning to an injury in his legs.

The angry pachyderm, after the mahout jumped off, went berserk and critically wounded a man and damaged several houses triggering panic in Mahewa Kalan village in UP’s Allahabad district, about 200 km from here, on Saturday.

According to reports, the elephant was allegedly tied up with a barbed iron chain by his owner, identified as Lalchandra Pandey, had suffered injuries in its legs as a result of which it was unable to sit.

The mahout, identified as Jhurai, who had climbed on to the pachyderm’s back last week, had to spend as many as seven days there since the elephant did not sit down on account of the injury.

The authorities sent for a team of wildlife experts to control the pachyderm. Jhuria, however, jumped off the elephant’s back the moment he got an opportunity on Saturday, before the expert and his team members arrived there, reports said.

A relative of pachyderm’s owner tried to control it but the animal threw him away with its trunk. The man suffered serious injuries and has been admitted to hospital, sources said. The pachyderm also reportedly damaged several houses in the village.

People have closed their homes and spending nights on the roofs out of fear. Another team of experts was being rushed to the village to tame the elephant.

According to the locals, the police have expressed their helplessness in doing anything in this matter. The owner of the elephant has also been contacted and asked to immediately rush home, reports said.