A 50-year-old man was killed by an elephant separated from its herd at Boothakatanahalli in Hiriyur taluk, Chitradurga district, on Tuesday.
The victim was Butayya Bhovi (45) of Yardakatte village in Sira taluk, Tumkur district. He had gone to a relative’s house at Boothakatanahalli to attend a festival. He was trampled upon by the elephant in the nearby forest around 6.30 a.m.
As he was deaf, he did not hear the elephant approaching.
Nagendra, Assistant Conservator of Forests, Tumkur, told The Hindu that the tusker seemed to have gone rogue and people in nearby villages had been alerted. The elephant, aged around 12, was first spotted in Lakshmanasandra tank in Tumkur taluk after it got separated from its herd in Nelamangala taluk, Bangalore Rural district, on July 27. It was spotted in Gubbi taluk on Sunday, Sira taluk on Monday. On Monday night, it entered Chitradurga district.
V. Ramalingegowda, Assistant Conservator of Forests, Chitradurga, told The Hindu : “We will tranquillise the elephant, put it in a cage and then decide whether to send it to Bandipur, Nagarahole or Bannerghatta.” He said that four elephants from Nagarahole and Bandipur would be brought to help capture the stray elephant. He said that a team of experts from Nagarahole would begin the process of capturing the animal early on Wednesday morning.
Curious onlookers are disturbing the elephant by making noise and are blocking the direction in which the elephant is trying to move. They are not listening to the police and were making it difficult for the Forest Department to capture the elephant, he added.
