Radio-collared wild elephant tramples man to death in Wayanad

A wild elephant entered the premises of a house at Mananthavady in Wayanad district of Kerala and killed one person Saturday morning.

Thiruvananthapuram: One person was trampled to death by a wild elephant with radio-collar after the tusker entered the premises of a house at Mananthavady in Wayanad district of Kerala on Saturday morning. The back-to-back man-animal conflicts triggered strong protest by locals who blocked the road at Mananthavady town with the victim's body throughout the day.

Ajeesh alias Aji, 45, of Padamala near Mananthavady, was killed by the elephant. Aji was chased by the elephant. Even as he tried to enter the premises of the house by jumping the compound wall, the elephant demolished the compound wall and trampled him to death.

'Belur Makhna', an elephant that was captured by Karnataka forest officials from Hassan and released in Bandipur forest region after fixing a radio collar, was suspected to have killed Ajeesh.

Last week a wild elephant, 'Thaneer Komban', entered Manthavady town from the Karnataka forest region and triggered panic throughout the day. The elephant died while being translocated to Bandipur.

Agitated over the back-to-back man-animal conflicts, local people staged a strong protest at Mananthavady by blocking the road with Ajeesh's body demanding effective solution for such conflicts in the region and adequate compensation. The stir was withdrawn by evening after the district collector assured compensation.

While Kerala Forest Minister A K Saseendran said that there was a lag in getting information regarding the location of the elephant, District collector Renu Raj said that government level talks would be held with Karnataka on the issue of wild elephants released by Karnataka forest authorities close to the Kerala border which were entering human settlements here.

The district collector who held talks with representatives of the local people and family of the deceased said that a financial assistance of Rs. 10 lakh would be handed over to the family of Ajeesh, who was a driver and farmer. Favorable decisions would be taken on the demands for a permanent job for his family and to meet all expenses of the education of his two children. The family's demand for an additional compensation of Rs. 40 lakh would be taken up with the government, she said.

Meanwhile, steps to track the wild elephant and capture it were also progressing. Trained 'Kumki' elephants were being brought from Karnataka for capturing the wild elephant. Prohibitory orders were clamped in Mananthavady region since Saturday morning.