The family members of H.H. Venkatesh, an expert in firing tranquillizer darts in elephant capture operations, have blamed the negligence of senior officers of the Forest Department for his death following the elephant attack. Venkatesh, 67, died after he was attacked by a tusker near Rayara Koplu in Alur taluk on Thursday, August 31.
Venkatesh’s son Mohith filed a complaint with Alur Police the same day, alleging that officers of the department, including the Deputy Conservator of Forests and Range Forest Officer, were responsible for his death.
Before filing the complaint, he took the officers to task and questioned their negligence. He wanted to know from senior officers why his father (Venkatesh) was called for duty at this age. “He is now 67. He has already served the department all these years and faced many critical situations. If you had asked him not to come to work, he would have survived today,” Mohith told the officers. The family members had often appealed to him to stop working for the department. However, he did not listen to them.
