Panic gripped Chintalamanepally, Penchikalpet and other mandals of Telangana’s Kumram Bheem Asifabad district which shares a border with Maharashtra after an elephant trampled two farmers to death in separate incidents in the last 24 hours.
An elephant that has strayed into the reserve forests of Chintalamanepally Mandal from neighbouring Maharashtra killed a farmer identified as Shankar in a chilli field at Burepalli village late on Wednesday afternoon.
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Fear heightened when the elephant reportedly trampled another farmer to death at Kondapalli village in Penchikalpet mandal early on Thursday morning, sources said.
The victim was identified as Poshanna, 50, a chilli farmer of Kondapalli.
We have alerted the residents of the forest fringe villages along the Pranahita river course to stay alert as the elephant is moving fast along the forest stretch of inter-state border with Maharashtra, said a forest officer, a member of a team formed to track the movement of the elephant.
Our first priority is to ensure safety of people living in the forest fringe villages and send the elephant back, he added, saying the farmers were advised to remain vigilant.
