Mangaluru: A 53-year-old man was killed in a suspected wild elephant attack near the Muchiradka enclosure in Rekhya village under the Uppinangady forest range Saturday evening.Uppinangady range forest officer HT Raghavendra said the attack is suspected to have occurred between 5.30pm and 7.30pm while Balakrishna Gowda was returning from work.The department received information within an hour, and the body was traced by 10pm. Footprints found in the area indicated the movement of a lone elephant, said the RFO.Forest officials, including assistant conservator of forests Subbayya Naik, Dharmasthala SI Samanth, members of the Shourya disaster management team and staff, conducted a spot inspection Sunday morning.Gowda’s body was shifted to Belthangady hospital for a postmortem. Forest department will soon begin tracking the elephant. Compensation will be provided to the deceased’s family in accordance with govt norms, said the officials.Meanwhile, locals said the incident came to light after the victim didn’t return home, prompting his family to launch a search. The region had been receiving heavy rainfall, and locals reportedly first found his raincoat before tracing him.A lone elephant was also spotted at Kaavu near Puttur. According to a local, Naveen Shankar, the jumbo entered his plantation at Badiyadka, between Amchinadka and Perlampady, damaged a pipe and ate breadfruit.It may be recalled that in July last year, Balakrishna Shetty, 60, died after being attacked by an elephant at Sowthadka Gundi in Kokkada within Dharmasthala police station limits.
