Jumbo suspected to have killed missing Gudalur farmer

The deceased person, identified as Radha Krishnan alias Suresh (42) of Devar Sholai area, had gone missing on Thursday. Though his family members and villagers launched a search, they couldn’t find him anywhere.

Meanwhile, some tea estate workers spotted the body of Suresh along the Karkapalli-Vachikolli pathway amid dense bushes around 6 am on Friday. They also found the footprints of an elephant nearby suggesting that Suresh could have been trampled to death by a jumbo.

On receiving information, Gudalur Forest Range Officer Rahul, Tahsildar Ravi and police officers reached the spot and held an examination. 

Meanwhile, villagers refused to allow the Forest Department to take the body to the Gudalur GH for autopsy. They sought a permanent solution on the intrusion of wild elephants into residential neighbourhoods claiming that elephant movement has increased during nights and there have been no efforts by the Forest Department to prevent straying jumbos. They also alleged that lack of proper lighting could have resulted in the incident.

After talks by the Forest Department officials, who promised to improve basic amenities including better lighting facilities, the villagers allowed the body to be taken for autopsy after a two-hour-long protest. The incident comes a month after a man called Ramesh was trampled to death by a wild elephant in Padanthorai on May 2.

Nilgiris district SP Shanmugapriya visited the scene and held inquiries.

A woman was mauled to death by a leopard in Valparai on Friday night. The deceased, identified as Kailasavathi, 52, wife of Mathi, was washing clothes near her house at Kanjamalai tea estate, South Division, when the prowling leopard emerged from the dark and attacked her around 7 pm. The leopard caught the woman by her neck and dragged her about 200

metres from the spot, before running away.