Elephants trample farmer to death at Nagamangala

Villagers protest in front of the forest office, holding it responsible

Two wild elephants attacked a farmer who was watering tomato plants and trampled him to death on the outskirts of Byadarahalli village in the taluk on Thursday morning.

The victim Sathish (36) did not notice the elephants while watering the plants. One of the two elephants pulled him with its trunk and another trampled him, killing him on the spot at 6 am, sources said.

Following the incident, villagers staged a protest in front of the forest office by keeping the body in front of it. Forest dept blamedThey said the forest officials had not taken any measure to drive the elephants out of the taluk despite being aware of their presence in the area. They held the Forest department directly responsible for the farmer’s death.

The residents of the neighbouring villages also joined the protest and raised slogans against the forest officials’ negligence. Situation under controlThey blocked the road for sometime and tried to break the forest office gate. However, the police intervened and brought the situation under control.

Forest officer Ramalingegowda visited the spot and apologised to the people for the lapses on the part of the department. He assured the protesters that stringent action would be taken against the officials responsible for the incident.

Compensation

Legislator N Chaluvaraya­swamy, who visited the spot, handed over a cheque for Rs 5 lakh to Pavitra, the wife of Sathish, on behalf of the government and promised her another Rs two lakh.

Meanwhile, the forest officers said they had driven the elephants to the forest on Wednesday, but they had camped near Byadarahalli, as they were misled by some passersby on Thursday morning.

They will be transported to the forest by either tranquilising them or taming them with the help of domestic elephants.