Elephant rampage at Kochi temple kills man, another dies in Thrissur attack

Elephant attacks in Angamaly and Thrissur result in two deaths. Representational Pic

Two persons died in separate elephant attack instances in Kerala on Friday after the jumbos suddenly turned violent, police said.

In the first instance, a captive elephant brought to a temple at Kidangoor in Angamaly near Kochi turned violent and killed the driver of the lorry in which it was transported and seriously injured its primary mahout, an officer of Angamaly police station said.

Visuals of the incident aired on TV channels also showed the jumbo attacking the vehicles parked near the temple.
It flipped over a car several times, completely destroying it, and also damaged a few two-wheelers present there, even as an Elephant Squad of the Forest Department tried to capture the jumbo before it moved out from the temple premises to a more populated area.

Later, around noon, over two hours after the jumbo became violent, it was tranquilised by a veterinarian.
After being darted, the elephant became even more agitated for a brief time and flipped over another vehicle inside the temple premises.

Subsequently, the jumbo calmed down gradually, allowing the Forest Department team to tie ropes to its hind legs and restrain it by tying the elephant to a couple of trees, according to visuals on TV channels.
A person claiming to be associated with the elephant said that the jumbo had in the past participated in the Thrissur Pooram festival and was calm by nature.

"It has not been violent in the past. Something must have triggered it. It is calm now," he told a TV channel. The second incident occurred at the Sree Koodalmanikyam temple at Irinjalakuda in Thrissur district during the day, police said.

The elephant, which was brought to the temple for its festival, had turned violent on the previous day and had been restrained, an officer of Irinjalakuda police station said.

When the mahouts went to feed it, the jumbo attacked them, killing the secondary mahout and injuring the primary, the officer said. Police said that statements are being recorded regarding the incident and it will also examine whether there was any lapse on the part of the devaswom managing the temple.

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