An elephant turned hostile at Thrikkannapuram, nearly 10 km from the city, on Tuesday and trampled its mahout to death.
The incident occurred around 3.15 p.m. when the mahout, Krishnankutty, 60, from Pala was taking the 21-year-old tusker, Venattumattom Unnikuttan, from a bathing ghat near the Sreechakrapuram Vishnu temple at Alummoodu to a nearby spot to be tethered. As they were crossing a shallow portion of the Thrikkannapuram river, the elephant turned hostile and stamped on the mahout twice, killing him on the spot.