Villagers and organisations place body on road, stage protest

Gonikoppa: A coffee planter was killed when a wild elephant attacked him while he was going to the coffee estate yesterday morning.

The incident took place on Chamundi Kolli Road in Biruga village of Ponnampet taluk.

The deceased is Aiyyamada Madaiah (50), a resident of Biruga village.

Madaiah was going to his coffee estate at about 7 am yesterday, when a wild elephant, which suddenly appeared before him, attacked and killed him.

Villagers and leaders of various organisations, who arrived at the spot, kept the body of Madaiah on the road and staged a protest against Forest Department officials and staff.

Chief Conservator of Forests (CCF) Manoj Kumar Tripati, who came to the spot, assured the protesters that wild elephants would be driven back to the forest, following which the protest                                 was stopped.

Post-mortem was conducted at Gonikoppa Government Hospital and the body was handed over to the family members and DFO Bhaskar gave a compensation cheque of Rs. 15 lakh.

MLC Suja Kushalappa visited the house of deceased Madaiah and consoled the family members. Virajpet Deputy Conservator of Forests (DCF) Jagannath, Assistant Conservator of Forests (ACF) K.A. Nehru, Range Forest Officer (RFO) Shankar, DRFOs Ganesh, Naveen, Diwakar, Sachin and Shrishyla, villagers Manira Muthappa, Aiyyamada Uday and others were present.