COIMBATORE: In continuing elephant attack deaths, two persons were killed in separate wild elephant attacks in the Nilgiris on Monday night. The deceased include a tribal youth and a temple priest.
C Raghu (28), an Irula tribal from Thalamokkai village near Kotagiri, was attacked by a wild elephant while returning home from a temple visit.
According to forest officials, Raghu and his friends were heading back to their village around midnight after visiting a temple located near a forest area, when the elephant suddenly charged at them. Though his friends raised an alarm and managed to drive the animal away, Raghu sustained severe injuries and died on the spot.
A team of forest department personnel, led by Kotagiri Forest Range Officer S Selvaraj, rushed to the scene after receiving information and shifted the body to the Kotagiri Government Hospital for post-mortem examination. Raghu is survived by his wife and two daughters.
In another incident near Masinagudi, C Rajappan (40), a temple priest from the Group House area, was found dead after being attacked by a wild elephant while returning home from a temple.
Rajappan had gone to perform rituals at a temple but did not return home even late into the evening. Around 9 pm, residents heard the loud trumpeting of a wild elephant from the stone quarry area and alerted the forest department.
Forest personnel led by Singara Forest Range Officer C Dhanabalan launched a search along the Masinagudi-Singara Road and later discovered Rajappan’s body in the quarry area.