Panic gripped villages of Shantipuram mandal in Kuppam Circle after a four-member herd of wild elephants trampled a farm worker to death at a mango orchard at Timmaiah Kunta on Saturday.
According to information, the herd, which entered the fields, marched towards Karnataka on Friday night, but returned to Timmaiah Kunta in the early hours of Saturday. Despite efforts of the forest and police officials to drive them back into Karnataka thickets, the tuskers did not move. Around 2 p.m., the herd marched towards a mango orchard. Two hours later, the body of the orchard watchman was found under a tree. The forest watchers observed that as the terrain was new to the elephants, they were finding it tough to return to their original habitat. Already, the herd moved far away from the forest belt, making its march closer to human habitations.
