The sight of a herd of elephants on Saturday saw villagers at Belkonglu, on the Andhra Pradesh-Karnataka border near Kolar district, rise up in anger. As pelting of stones, firecrackers and rockets started, an enraged tusker killed a Karnataka farmer.
Krishnappa, 56, a resident of Kurubur in Bangarpet taluk, had gone towards a lake in the Andhra town to see the elephants that had been frequenting the place for the past week. Perhaps coming from the forests and eucalyptus groves in the areas, the elephants had been raiding agricultural fields. Villagers had even submitted a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner of Kolar seeking that the herd be driven away.
On Saturday, villagers took matters into their own hands, and over 200 villagers gathered by a lake to drive away the herd. Krishnappa reportedly entered the lake where the elephants were. By the time he came back to the shore, a tusker had come out and was angrily charging at the mob. While the rest fled, Krishnappa’s legs gave way and he collapsed. The elephant crushed him to death.
Saswati Mishra, Chief Conservator of Forests (Bengaluru), said the incident occurred around 200m outside Karnataka’s border. “We are in touch with the Andhra Pradesh Forest Department to find out the rules in place for compensation,” she said.
The area is not known to traditionally harbour an elephant migration route and it was yet to be ascertained where the herd came from, she said.
Meanwhile, Forest Department officials have started a joint operation to drive away the elephants, said Bangarpet RFO Santhoshkumar.
However, villagers vented their ire at the forest officials. They alleged that both States had been only pushing the elephants onto the other side and not taking concrete steps to end the menace.
