Elephant attacks woman officer on CRPF campus

COIMBATORE: A 56-year-old woman, who is the personal secretary to the Inspector General of Police, Central Training College, CRPF was injured in an elephant attack in Coimbatore on Thursday.

The victim, Rathika Mohan was on an early morning walk with another woman on the CRPF campus, when a wild elephant charged at them. “The animal pulled down Rathika with its trunk while the other woman managed to escape unhurt. On hearing their loud screams, the other staff arrived and rescued her. She was rushed to CRPF hospital and then to a private hospital,” said a staff of the Forest Department.

The elephant might have entered the CRPF campus through a damaged portion of the compound wall. It was driven back into the forest area and a vigil is maintained to prevent further intrusions, said S Selvaraj, Forest Range Officer, Periyanaickenpalayam. The condition of the injured woman is said to be stable.

In another incident of elephant intrusion, vehicles were piled up in a long queue along Kotagiri- Mettupalayam Road after a wild elephant stood on the ghat road near Mullur blocking the arterial road around morning. Vehicles were halted far away from the elephant and they resumed movement only after the animal retreated into the forest after a while.

Motorists claimed that a wild tusker has been frequenting the ghat stretch and also attacks vehicles coming by the way. They also urged the Forest Department to dig trenches along the road stretch to prevent elephant intrusions and conflicts.