Newskarnataka-Mysore

Kushalnagar: One person died after falling into  Harangi left bank  canal while another escaped by swimming to safety when a herd of wild elephants chased them  near Hudugur in Harangi dam limits in North Kodagu on December 1, Sunday.

The deceased has been identified as Purushottam alias Prakash. It is learnt, the two who were fed  up with the menace of the  wild elephants  which were ransacking the fields of the farmers  located on the edge of the Hudugur forest, had on Sunday decided to  end the problem  by chasing away the wild elephants  with guns in hand.

It is learnt, as the bike riders were   chasing away the elephants, an elephant herd rushed towards them and began to chase them. One elephant  knocked down the two from their bikes and both landed in the  nearby canal. If Janardhan survived, Purushottam who did not know swimming  drowned  in the overflowing Harangi left bank canal. Following the incident, villagers took ACF of Somwarapete sub-division Nagaraju to task for the department’s apathy in checking  the wild elephant menace.