Puttur: Angry Elephant Gives 'Mammoth' Tension to Locals, Police
Mounesh Vishwakarma
Daijiworld Media Network – Puttur (VM)
Puttur, Jan 2: In an incident that had the locals frightened for a while, an angry elephant vented its ire by attacking the driver of the truck in which it was being transported.
The incident took place in Puttur on Tuesday January 1.
In this regard, to control the crowd and protect them from the elephant, police laid barricade in Puttur main road from Arun theatre till Kallare. When the crowd tried to rush forward to see the elephant, police resorted to mild lathi charge.
The elephant (Lakshmisha) belongs to Karunakar of Uppinangady. The incident is said to have taken place when it was being taken to Sullia.
As per the information received, the elephant showed its temper by pointing its trunk towards the truck driver and also shaking the lorry. The driver in a state of panic fled from the place.
The elephant trainer was also thrown off from the vehicle and the wooden boards of the truck were broken.
Even after providing food by the police and forest officials who arrived at the spot, the elephant refused to be calmed down. In fact, the situation only got worse.
A prominent elephant trainer was also called from Shakleshpur but the idea did not work out. The police team headed by inspector Sudarshan and forest officer Sridhar called the fire brigade.
Finally, the elephant was calmed down by spraying water on it.
No Tranquilizer Available
There is no tranquilizer available in Dakshina Kannada to control irate animals like elephants, in case of emergency. The same has to be brought from Madikeri. In addition there are no adequate veterinary doctors nor expert trainers in the district to control such animals.
Speaking to media, inspector M Sudarshan said that a veterinary doctor was called from Madikeri for the elephant's treatment.
Sources said that earlier too the elephant had created similar kind of situation in Udupi. In the wake of security reasons, the elephant was taken to Uppinangady five years ago, where it was looked after by Karunakar.
Meanwhile, in a strange incident, the veterinary doctor from Puttur government hospital who came to the spot to make the elephant unconscious, was himself found unconscious under the influence of alcohol! He was fallen on the roadside, and looking at his condition the police officials along with locals took him to the nearby petrol pump to rest.