Jumbo tramples 2 CRPF men to death

A wild elephant strayed into the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) camp at Taralu village near Bannerghatta National Park, about 35 kilometres from Bengaluru, and trampled two CRPF men to death in the early hours of Sunday.

The deceased are H Dakshina Murthy (55), assistant sub-inspector from Andiyappanur village in Vellore district of Tamil Nadu, and Puttappa Lamani (35), a constable from Chirabadagi village in Haveri district.

Murthy, Lamani and two other constables — Sudeep and Nayak — were on duty at sentry post-3 on a hillock on Saturday night. All the four were part of a CRPF platoon.

“This is the first time that a wild elephant has killed anyone in this area. The animal might have come from Savanadurga,’’ said Javed Mumtaz, deputy conservator of forests.

The police, quoting residents of the area, said the elephant strayed into the camp in search of water and food. It couldn’t find any and went on a rampage, destroying a bike, a tent and a tree.  The CRPF facility, spread over 220 acres, houses a training camp and a separate one for dogs.

There are seven sentry posts, with one ASI and three constables at each post.  There is a toilet down the hillock, a few yards away from post-3.

“Dakshina Murthy was returning from the toilet when he was attacked by the elephant around 5.30 am,” constable Sudeep told DH.

“I heard a rustle and thought it was a herd of wild boars passing by the toilet. I watched closely and sighted the elephant. I shouted at Murthy to run to safety. But before he could move, the elephant was right in front of him, grabbing him with its trunk and tossing him up in the air,” Sudeep recounted the attack.

Sudeep tried to chase away the elephant, but it came charging at him instead. He managed to escape and alerted his colleagues in the other tents.

“The elephant also chased Nayak and destroyed his bike. It partially damaged our tent and retreated. All this while, Lamani was fast asleep in his tent,” Sudeep said.

When Lamani woke up and came out of the tent, he was shocked to see Murthy lying on the ground, struggling to breathe. He offered a can of water to Murthy.

“Within seconds, the elephant appeared from nowhere and attacked Lamani. It stepped on him, killing him on the spot. The attack was so brutal that Lamani’s body was beyond recognition. Only the flesh remained,” Nayak said. “The elephant uprooted a tree and then vanished into the forest.”

The constables said they were instructed not to use weapons against animals and hence, did not use them to chase away the elephant.

Dakshina Murthy is survived by his wife and three daughters.  One daughter is employed at a private firm in Electronics City, while the other two are studying. Lamani has a son and two minor daughters.