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Elephant kills three in Kerala temple

THRISSUR: Three persons, including a woman, were killed when an elephant, named Poabson Unnikrishnan, ran amok at the Koodalmanikya Temple in Irinjalakuda, 30 km from here, on Wednesday.

The dead were identified as Kausalya, 75, wife of Velayudhan of Koodampally in Kodakara; Nideesh, 30, son of Neelakantan of Karyattil in Pallissery near Annamanada; and Naushad of Oachira.

The elephant turned violent near the ‘koothambalam’ (venue for performing arts) of the temple at 12.20 p.m. after having been featured in a ceremonial procession. The animal got wild when Naushad touched its tusk and trampled him to death.

The elephant ran wildly and exited the compound of the temple through its third entrance. About 200 people who waited near the entrance ran helter-skelter. The elephant caught up with Kausalya, who could not keep pace with the others, and trampled her to death. It then entered the temple compound again. People lit bonfires at two of the three entrances of the temple to prevent the elephant from leaving the compound.

Members of the Elephant Emergency and Critical Care Unit reached the spot at 1 p.m. They tried to shoot the elephant with a tranquiliser gun, but could not as it ran wildly.

The elephant then broke open an iron gate at the temple’s second entrance. A group of people who stood there, including a Circle Inspector of police, a policeman and a few photographers, ran to safety. The police said Nidheesh, an ardent lover of elephants, had ignored the Circle Inspector’s warnings against remaining there. The elephant charged at Nidheesh, and gored and trampled him to death.

A mahout, Kuttan, sat atop the elephant for one-and-a-half hours and clung to life as the elephant went about killing two persons.

He had a miraculous escape by jumping off the elephant’s back.

Mahouts brought the elephant to control around 2.15 p.m. inside the temple compound while it was drinking from the temple pond.

Four persons were injured in the commotion.

District Collector V. K. Baby and top police officials visited the spot. The Collector ordered an investigation into the incident.

The government and the Irinjalakuda Koodalmanikya Devaswom sanctioned an assistance of Rs.2 lakh each to the kith and kin of the dead.

P. S. Mani, Divisional Forest Officer, Chalakudy, said temple authorities had violated the rule that fitness certificates of elephants should be submitted to the Forest Department 72 hours before the commencement of the festival. In all, 17 elephants were being featured at the 10-day annual temple festival, which began on April 18.

The Kerala Elephant Lovers Association alleged that temple authorities had violated the High Court’s directive on elephant care at festivals between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.

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