Wild elephant tramples farmer to death in Coimbatore

Coimbatore: A 48-year old farmer was trampled to death by a wild elephant in Sirumugai in the district, police said today.

The incident occurred around 10.30 PM last night when farmer Ganeshamurthy, hearing some noise in his farm, came out his house and flashed a torch light.

Seeing the light, the elephant turned violent, chased Ganeshamurthy, who ran helter skelter for safety, and trampled him to death, police said.

Hearing the trumpeting of the elephant, the relatives and some villagers rushed to the area and informed the forest department officials, who also arrived at the scene and managed to drive the elephant into nearby jungle, they said.

Protesting that the growth of unwanted weeds and grass blocked their view of wild animals entering the human habitat, the locals did not allow the body to be taken for postmortem.

However, forest and district officials persuaded them and assured to take necessary steps in this regard, after which the body was removed, police said.