MBI photographer recalls last moments with A V Mukesh

On Wednesday morning, Mathrubhumi News cameraman A V Mukesh passed away after facing attack from a wild elephant in Palakkad.

Photographer Arun Krishnankutty, who was part of the Mathrubhumi team that visited the Kottekad region to film the wild elephants, recalls the tragic events leading to the death of his co-worker. 

On Tuesday, a farmer from Venoli spoke about the hardships caused by elephants destroying crops. We had agreed to meet at the office at 5:30 a.m. to reach the residential area near Elambarakkad in Malampuzha by 5:45 a.m.

I left my house near the bus station at 4:45 a.m. on Wednesday. By the time I reached Puthur at 5:33 a.m, I received a call from A V Mukesh asking about my presence. I informed him that I had just arrived at Puthur and would soon be at the office, and then the call got disconnected. Upon reaching the office, I waited for the news team. Shortly after, I received a call from the farmer, who said, "Arun, have you arrived? The elephant is here. If you come within 10 minutes, you can capture the visuals." The farmer continued to call as we made our way to Elambarakkad. Upon arrival, I began capturing pictures of the elephant.

After a while, the elephant went back into the forest. I moved towards a check dam near the Korayar River, as the elephant would usually cross the area to reach Ooralikkad. This was the routine of PT-5 (a tusker). Accordingly, the news team waited near the check dam.

I showed the pictures captured in my camera to Mukesh. A little later, I heard the sound of bamboo being crushed near the riverbank. Although I thought of going there, I hesitated because I felt I wouldn’t get a good angle. Meanwhile, one of the locals went in that direction. Realising that there was another elephant besides the one we had seen earlier, the person immediately turned back. Meanwhile, the news team went to the riverside to take another look. After some time, when the elephant was still not in sight, I called Mukesh. He replied that he couldn’t see the elephant clearly at that time. After a while, I heard the elephant’s trumpeting sound. Following that, Mathrubhumi News reporter Gokul and driver Manoj came running.

That’s when I realised that Mukesh was missing. When I asked what happened, Gokul said that one of the two elephants had chased them, and during the chase, Mukesh had fallen.

When the locals who had gone searching came asking for water, I thought Mukesh might be resting somewhere. But when I reached there, I found Mukesh lying unconscious. Even after splashing water on his face, he didn’t move. That’s when we decided to take him to the hospital in our vehicle.