Villagers seek early solution to jumbo menace after tribal’s death

Protesting against the incident, the angry villagers refused to allow the Forest Department and police from taking the body away for post-mortem.

The deceased identified as Maariselvan, a daily wager from Yaanaipallam tribal village near Coonoor was returning from Pillur Mattam after work, when he stumbled upon a herd of five elephants standing on the way near Chinnalakombai area.

“It was around 6.30pm on Sunday. On seeing the elephant herd, Maariselvan took to his heels. Yet, one of the elephants chased and attacked him to death,” said an official of the Forest Department.

The anxious family members went on a futile search as he didn’t return home even late into night. On Monday morning, the villagers who were bound to Pillur Mattam found Maariselvam lying dead on the pathway. On receiving information, the officials of the Forest Department, revenue and family members of the deceased rushed to the spot.

An ambulance came till Pillur Mattam, but could not reach Yaanaipallam due to undulated terrain. Hence it was decided to carry the body of the deceased in a cradle. But villagers broke into a quarrel with officials demanding proper road facility to their neighbourhood.

The villagers also sought housing facilities near Pillur Mattam and sought concrete measures to prevent similar conflicts. The officials convinced the villagers of remedial measures by taking the issue to the knowledge of officials in the district administration.

Following this the villagers let them to retrieve the body from the spot. The body was then carried in a cradle for about two kilometers and sent in an ambulance to Coonoor Government Hospital for a post-mortem.

This incident comes a day after a large number of villagers blocked the arterial Gudalur-Mysore road after a wild jumbo overturned a jeep loaded with milk in Gudalur on Sunday.