Kadaba (Dakshina Kannada): Villagers in Renjiladi village of Kadaba taluk on Friday staged a protest and pelted stones at forest authorities following the capture of a wild elephant that had earlier killed two people, saying that the officials should also catch the other tuskers, which have been troubling them. After a three-day-long rescue operation, the wild tusker was caged on Friday. The tusker killed Ranjitha Rai (21) and Ramesh Rai (52) on February 20. The locals also staged a protest and demanded that the DFO come to the spot and cage the tusker on the prowl.
The locals hurled stones when the authorities were celebrating their success in capturing the wild tusker, according to witnesses. The villagers demanded that the authorities stay back and catch the other trouble-making elephants in the area. Following an argument between the two sides, the villagers then started pelting stones at the officers and also tried to assault them.
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Two police vehicles, one jeep attached to the forest department, and a vehicle belonging to a forest official were damaged. The Puttur DYSP, police and forest officials were attacked and the police detained two people. On Monday, five trained elephants, including Abhimanyu, were brought from Dubare Elephant Camp and Mattigodu. On Tuesday, wild elephants were detected and officials started using drones and elephant trackers to catch them.
A team of specialist doctors and trained elephants also reached Tumbe Sanctuary in Renjiladi and started the operation from Putye near Nujibalthila. On Friday, a trained elephant, Abhimanyu, along with the other four trained elephants, lured the wild one to come near the road where the authorities trapped the tusker using a crane. The wild tusker was then sent to Mattigodu Elephant Camp in the Kodagu district.
