Chamarajanagar: Two people hailing from Nizampet locality in Hyderabad had to pay a hefty amount as a fine for clicking a selfie with a wild elephant on Wednesday. A fine of Rs 10,000 each was imposed on Dilip Kumar (42) and Shyamprasad (31) for taking photos with a wild elephant. Both the Telangana residents Dilip and Shyamprasad were travelling to Coimbatore in their car taking the Bengaluru-Dindigal National Highway route. When their car was passing through the forest they noticed the elephant standing by the side of the highway near Asanoor.
The duo alighted from the car and went very close to the elephant and clicked a selfie. It was noticed by the Tamil Nadu forest department personnel, who were on a routine patrol. When the forest guards approached them and asked the purpose of stopping the car in the forest area, the duo got into the car and sped away.
Later, the forest department staffers passed on the information to Bannari check-post. The forest department officials, who were manning the checkpost, fined both of them Rs 10,000 each. They were fined for showing "irresponsible behaviour" while passing through the forest area. The officials also issued warnings to them.
The wild animals were often seen on the national highway. Motorists should drive carefully. But, what we are witnessing is that some tease wild animals or take selfies. People disturb wild animals. Hence, both were fined for clicking selfies with a wild elephant, said Asanoor zonal forest officer Pandirajan. Despite warnings, people often stop their vehicles on the highways to take selfies.
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