74-year-old farmer killed by wild elephant in Coimbatore

Coimbatore: A 74-year-old farmer was trampled to death by a wild elephant at Mettuthottam near Kavundampalayam in Periyanaickenpalayam forest range on Wednesday night.
A forest officer identified the deceased as Velumani, of Mettuthottam near Pazhaiyapudur on the outskirts of the city. He was residing in a farmhouse that was located just 1.5km away from the reserve forest.
"Around 8.30pm on Wednesday, Velumani noticed a tusker in his agricultural field.When the elephant started eating plantain trees, he came out of the farmhouse. Suddenly, the tusker pushed him down with its trunk and trampled him. Velumani sustained injuries to his head and abdomen. While we rushed him to the Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital, he died on the way," the officer said.
According to him, they chased the tusker back into the reserve forest by 6am on Thursday.
After the postmortem, the body was handed over to his family members on Thursday afternoon. "We have issued an initial compensation of Rs50,000 to the victim's family. Remaining Rs9.5 lakh will be issued to them soon," the officer said.
Following the incident, the forest department deployed three teams of frontline staff in Pazhaiyapudur village to prevent man-animal conflict. Forest officers also requested the people residing along the forest fringes not to venture out during the early morning and night hours.