Coimbatore: Villagers attacked forest officials and vandalized a forest department vehicle after a 45-year-old man was trampled to death by a wild elephant on Saturday night near Gudalur in the Nilgiris.The deceased has been identified as Ravi, of O’Valley town panchayat near Gudalur. The village was celebrating a temple festival when the temple’s water supply was interrupted. Ravi went to inspect the pipelines near the forest edge, where a wild elephant intercepted and attacked him. He sustained fatal injuries and died on the spot. As news of the death spread, residents gathered in large numbers. When forest department and police officials arrived at the scene to retrieve the body for post-mortem, villagers alleged that the department had failed to curb the increasing human-animal conflict in the region. Meanwhile, a section of the crowd reportedly pelted stones and attacked the officials, shattering the windshields of a forest department vehicle. Seven forest personnel sustained injuries in the attack. Two are currently undergoing treatment at the Gudalur Government Headquarters Hospital, while five others have been shifted to the Ooty Government Medical College Hospital for treatment. “Severe drought conditions in the upper reaches are forcing elephants and other wildlife to move into human habitations in search of fodder and water. Crop raids and residential incursions have become a daily occurrence in O’Valley,” a local farmer said. The Gudalur police have registered a case regarding the villager’s death. Simultaneously, a separate FIR has been filed against those involved in the assault on government servants and the destruction of public property.
