Mangaluru: Forest department officials on Friday captured the tusker that claimed the lives of two persons in Kadaba village of Dakshina Kannada district. "We have successfully captured the elephant which claimed the lives of two persons," Deputy Conservator of Forest Dr. Dinesh Kumar Y.K told ANI.
He added that there are many elephants left to capture including a baby elephant, and they will continue to conduct the operation in the area.
Soon after the big animal was captured, locals of the area got into an argument with forest department officials, and insisted to capture another elephant who, they claimed, was troubling them for long. Authorities assured to continue the operation the next day. However, their attempts to convince the locals failed.
The locals allegedly resorted to violence, and started pelting stones at the police and forest authority and damaging two of their vehicles. 7 people have been arrested in connection to the incident so far, officials said.
The elephant attack incident occured in Meenadi area on February 20, in which two persons, including a young woman, were killed. The deceased were identified as Ranjitha and Ramesh Rai. The wild elephant attacked Ranjitha while on her way to work, the other victim Ramesh Rai was also on the site, according to the police.
A day after the incident, forest officials launched 'Operation Elephant' in the Kadaba region to capture the wild elephant. The operation that began on Tuesday morning was carried out with the assistance of 5 other elephants that arrived from Nagarhole and Dubare camp.
Detailing the operation, Deputy Conservator Dr. Kumar said that a team of forest department personnel was deployed and they were keeping a check on the movements of wild elephant with the help of drones. Authorities have launched a detailed investigation into the violence incident.
Based on the complaint by the subzone forest officer, a case under sections 143, 144, 147, 148, 341, 353, 332, 307, 427, 504, 506, and 149 of IPC along with Karnataka Prevention of Distraction and Loss of Property Act, 1981 has been registered. Authorities were further looking into the matter. (ANI)
