Wild elephant walks into temple festival in Hassan, creates panic

Belur (Hassan dist): An uninvited guest, an elephant, caused panic during a temple utsava, at Belur, in Hassan district, on Thursday night.

A lone tusker, that had separated from its herd, suddenly walked into the religious programme at Lingapura temple, in Belur taluk, creating panic among the people gathered there.

The utsava following the renovation of Sri Chamundeshwari temple was underway at Lingapura village, under Arehalli hobli, of Belur taluk, on Thursday night. Around 9 pm, the tusker suddenly entered the temple premises, creating fear among hundreds of devotees gathered for the festival. The people ran helter-skelter, out of fear.

Irked over the screams of the people, the jumbo damaged the motorbikes and cars parked on the premises of the temple. However, no casualty has been reported. The temple administration burst crackers, to chase away the elephant.

Forest and Police department personnel rushed to the spot and chased the wild jumbo into the forest.

Range Forest Officer B G Yatish said that a herd of more than 10 elephants have been straying around in Belur taluk. One of the jumbos was separated from the herd and barged into the gathering, out of fear. The vehicles have been slightly damaged. The Forest department personnel chased the tusker into Sakleshpur forest, he added.