Man killed in elephant attack in Gudalur

A 38-year-old man died and his friend suffered serious injuries after an elephant attacked them in the O’Valley area in Gudalur on early Tuesday morning.

The Forest Department identified the deceased as Samsudeen, who was traveling on a motorcycle with his friend Chelladurai. The two men were reportedly on their way to work on Tuesday morning, when they were attacked by the elephant. Samsudeen is said to have died on the spot, while Chelladurai sustained injuries.

Following the incident, local residents staged a protest demanding that the Forest department take immediate steps to prevent negative human-elephant interactions in the region. Following talks with the police, the protesters dispersed with assurances that action would be taken to keep people safe in the region. The latest elephant attack comes just a month after a 62-year-old man, K. Mani, was killed in O’Valley by a wild elephant. Officials added that this was the fourth human casualty resulting from an elephant attack in the Gudalur forest division in the last four months.

When contacted, Forest Department officials said that they were investigating the sequence of events that led to the latest attack in O’Valley. They were also identifying the elephant that was involved in the attack.

Officials added that they would step up patrols in the region and increase monitoring of elephants in order to prevent negative human-elephant interactions in the region.