Elephant attack claims life of 40-year-old in Attappadi forest
Attappadi: In yet another tragic incident of human-wildlife conflict in Attappadi, a 40-year-old man was killed in a wild elephant attack while he was grazing cattle in the forest.
The deceased has been identified as Vellingiri, son of late Konan and Lakshmi, a native of Chirakadavu, Puthoor in Attappadi. He went missing on Monday morning after he entered the forest near Agali to graze cattle. When he failed to return by evening, his relatives launched a search and informed the forest department.
On Tuesday morning, forest officials from the Puthur range began a search operation in the Pattanakkal forest area. They first found Vellingiri’s slippers and the cleaver he had been carrying. A short distance away, his body was found lying in a forest area. There were no external injuries on the body, but elephant footprints were found nearby.
After the death was officially confirmed at the Kottathara Tribal Speciality Taluk Hospital, the body was taken to the Agali Community Health Centre morgue. Then it was shifted to the Palakkad District Hospital for postmortem examination. The body will be handed over to the family on Wednesday.
Vellingiri was unmarried. He is survived by his mother Lakshmi and two sisters, Maruthi and Radha.
This marks the third fatal elephant attack in Attappadi within the last six months and three were also injured during this time period.