A 57-year-old man, who fell down from his two-wheeler when the rogue elephant Arikomban attacked the vehicle, passed away on Tuesday, May 30. The deceased is identified as Palraj, a resident of Cumbum town. He sustained injuries after falling from his bike as Arikomban was running amok. He has been under treatment at Theni Medical College Hospital since Saturday.
Tamil Nadu Forest Minister M Mathiventhan and Rural Development Minister I Periyaswamy had, on Sunday, visited Palraj at Theni Government Medical College Hospital. The minister had also handed over a cheque of Rs 50,000 to Palraj's family. Palraj’s death has led to protests from local people demanding the capture of Arikomban.
A 150-member team of the Tamil Nadu forest Department, including three kumki elephants and two veterinarians, are at Cumbum and surrounding areas to tranquilise and capture the rogue elephant. However, the Forest Department on Tuesday said that the elephant is now located in the forest area near the Shanmukhananda temple, which is around 3 km away from the human settlements.
A senior official with the Tamil Nadu forest department said the elephant could not be tranquilised from the present location as the terrain was uneven and vehicles will not be able to reach the spot to relocate the animal from that place. The department is waiting for the animal to reach the nearby towns to fire the tranquiliser and capture it.