A young tusker, which got separated from its herd last week, trampled to death a 16-year-old boy who ventured into the forest area on the outskirts of Boothakatanahalli village in Hiriyur taluk in Chitradurga district on Tuesday morning.
The gory killing of the youngster forced authorities to caution residents of nearly 16 villages abutting the forest not to venture out into the forest. Efforts were on to drive back the elephant into Bannerghatta forest, authorities said.
The victim, Bootha Bovi, of Yardakatte in Sira taluk in Tumkur district, had gone to his relative's house at Boothakatanahalli village to attend a festival of village deity. He had gone to the nearby forest area to relieve himself around 6.30 a.m. where he was trampled to death.
Assistant Conservator of Forest, Nagendra, said that > the tusker is now at Gowraganahalli state forest in Hiriyur taluk. The tusker is believed to have strayed from Advangi forest near Nelamangala in Bangalore Rural District.
Earlier the same tusker was trapped in Lakshmanasandra tank in Tumkur taluk and it later moved to Hiriyur.
