Daijiworld Media Network – Kadaba (MS)
Kadaba, Feb 21: Five trained elephants arrived at Renjilady to capture the wild elephant that killed two people on Monday. Forest officers and district administration are on the spot and are overseeing the operation. DCF Dinesh Y K is leading the operation.
More than 50 forest department personnel of Sullia, Panja and Subramanya, 30 trained mahouts, team of Kavadigas and locals are also involved in the operation.
Operation Elephant, to catch the wild elephant, that took two lives early in the morning on Monday, began at Kadaba with all preparations. Five trained elephants are brought from Nagarahole and Dubare trained elephant camps.
Trained elephants Abhimanyu, Prashant, Harsha, Kanjan and Mahendra are experts in catching wild elephants. They were brought in trucks on Monday night.
The forest department teams are viewing the presence of the wild elephants at certain spots. Drones are also used to locate the pachyderm.
DCF Dr Dinesh Kumar, ACF Praveen Kumar, Kishore Kumarm zonal forest officers N Manjunath, R Girish, Raghavendra, officials and personnel of forest department have begun the operation. Team of expert doctors have arrived from Nagarahole and Mangaluru also.
Meanwhile, the district authorities have announced Rs 15 lakh compensation each for families of two victims. They also promised a job for the brother of the deceased young woman.
Irate locals accused the authorities of lackadaisical attitude despite their repeated complaints about the elephant menace for the past five years. They alleged that in spite of several submissions to forest and district authorities, no action was taken.
Last week, a local youth had warned the villagers against wandering wild elephants on Facebook and also urged the authorities to take action. He had also alerted the village panchayat but nothing happened, locals complained.
The locals also took minister for Fisheries and Ports S Angara, who visited the spot and the village on Monday night, to task and questioned the negligence of the authorities. In turn, minister Angara questioned the forest authorities and warned them of action.