Enarada, Bangalore, June 24:
Jumbo menace in the outskirts of the city continued on Monday . Shyam resident of Anekal was seriously injured when a jumbo charged on him, Meanwhile another heard of Jumbos appeared at Malur on Monday.
Jumbo attack; Four killed
Venturing too close to a herd of elephants is always costly. This was proved yet again for a journalist, who was trampled to death by an elephant on the city outskirts on Sunday. The incident occurred near a tank at Chikkataggali village in Hoskote taluk on Sunday, June 23rd afternoon.
The journalist, Manjunath, 24, was trampled to death by the herd of 22 jumbos. These jumbos have strayed from the neighbouring forests in Tamil Nadu, has been wandering in the villages of Malur taluk in Kolar district and Hoskote taluk in Bangalore Rural district, in search of food and water.
The same herd is now responsible for deaths of four people in the last four days. The first three deaths were reported in Bangarpet and Malur on Friday and Saturday. The body of one of the victims, Mallappa, 60, a shepherd, was found on Saturday. On Sunday morning, the bodies of Ramakrishnappa, 50, of Chokkandahalli and Chandrappa, 48, were found in the Abbenahalli forest.
KS Manjunath Gowda, MLA from Malur, escaped being attacked by the jumbos by a whisker, when he was trying to disperse the mob that had gathered to catch a glimpse of the elephants
The elephants, which panicked on seeing a huge crowd, tried to attack the people who had gathered. Residents in nearby villages are living in constant fear of the jumbos and have been keeping night vigil, sitting atop their houses.
On Sunday morning, the herd of 22 elephants was sighted outside Hoskote and started drawing a large number of crowds. Manjunath (23), who worked as a stringer for a Kannada daily, had gone to take photographs of the herd when he was killed.
Over the last few years, a herd of elephants often travels through Kolar and reach Kuppam in Andra Pradesh. But this is the first time it has attacked people. That could be because of two young calves in the herd. We have requested villagers to stay away from the herd,” a forest official said.
Compensation
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday announced a compensation of Rs five lakh to the family members of each of those killed in elephant attacks in Kolar and Bangalore Rural districts in the last two days. MLAManjunath Gowda has announced a compensation of Rs 50,000 to each of those injured. Crop losses will also be compensated.
