An elephant gored its assistant mahout to death at Punnathur Kotta, the elephant camp of the Guruvayur Devaswom, on Wednesday. The deceased was identified as A.R. Ratheesh. The incident occurred on Wednesday afternoon when Ratheesh was giving water to elephant Chandrasekharan. Though the mahout was rushed to the hospital his life could not be saved. The elephant, who has only one tusk, is a known troublemaker, according to fellow mahouts. It is never taken outside its tethering place due to its violent behaviour, they say. Tranquilliser shots had to be administered thrice earlier, when the elephant turned unruly, according to sources.
