Elephant tramples farmer in Maharashtra’s Sindhudurg, protests break out

KOLHAPUR: There was an eight-hour standoff between villagers and forest authorities in Morle village in Sindhudurg's Dodamarg tehsil after an elephant — a lone tusker — killed a farmer there on Tuesday.
The deceased man has been identified as Laxman Gavas (65). He was killed while out on his farm to collect cashew nuts. Villagers said the elephant, a teenage tusker named ‘Omkar' by forest officials, first threw Gavas in the air and then trampled him. Morle village is under Sawantwadi Forest Range, part of Kolhapur Forest circle.
Tension prevailed in the village after Gavas' death as forest officials who'd responded to the incident were confronted by villagers who refused to hand over the body unless the elephant was captured first. It took the officials eight hours to calm the villagers down.
An order was issued on Wednesday for the capture of the elephant, said V Clement Ben, additional principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife), Maharashtra. "A team from Karnataka will be deployed for the capture as they have the expertise for it. We're hoping to resolve this issue at the earliest," Ben said.
A forest department official from the Dodamarg Range said: "Compensation of Rs 25 lakh will also be handed to Gavas' family. A cheque of Rs 10 lakh was issued immediately and the rest will be handed over in a few days as per the law," the official said.
Forest officials said ‘Omkar' had separated from his herd and was now roaming the countryside in Chandgad tehsil of Kolhapur district and Dodamarg tehsil of Sindhudurg district. There have been incidents of him chasing people in Chandgad too, the officials said.
In 2009 and 2015, authorities had conducted elephant capture campaigns across Sindhudurg district. In 2015, three elephants were captured. Two of them died during ‘taming', and the third, a male named Bhim, was first moved to Mysore and then back to Maharashtra, to the Kamlapur elephant camp in Aheri. Bhim is currently at Vantara in Jamnagar.
Kolhapur: There was an eight-hour standoff between villagers and forest authorities in Morle village in Sindhudurg's Dodamarg tehsil after an elephant — a lone tusker — killed a farmer there on Tuesday.
The deceased man has been identified as Laxman Gavas (65). He was killed while out on his farm to collect cashew nuts. Villagers said the elephant, a teenage tusker named ‘Omkar' by forest officials, first threw Gavas in the air and then trampled him. Morle village is under Sawantwadi Forest Range, part of Kolhapur Forest circle.
Tension prevailed in the village after Gavas' death as forest officials who'd responded to the incident were confronted by villagers who refused to hand over the body unless the elephant was captured first. It took the officials eight hours to calm the villagers down.
An order was issued on Wednesday for the capture of the elephant, said V Clement Ben, additional principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife), Maharashtra. "A team from Karnataka will be deployed for the capture as they have the expertise for it. We're hoping to resolve this issue at the earliest," Ben said.
A forest department official from the Dodamarg Range said: "Compensation of Rs 25 lakh will also be handed to Gavas' family. A cheque of Rs 10 lakh was issued immediately and the rest will be handed over in a few days as per the law," the official said.
Forest officials said ‘Omkar' had separated from his herd and was now roaming the countryside in Chandgad tehsil of Kolhapur district and Dodamarg tehsil of Sindhudurg district. There have been incidents of him chasing people in Chandgad too, the officials said.
In 2009 and 2015, authorities had conducted elephant capture campaigns across Sindhudurg district. In 2015, three elephants were captured. Two of them died during ‘taming', and the third, a male named Bhim, was first moved to Mysore and then back to Maharashtra, to the Kamlapur elephant camp in Aheri. Bhim is currently at Vantara in Jamnagar.