2 coffee growers killed by wild elephants in Kodagu and Hassan

Two people died in elephant attacks in the state in the past 24 hours, officials aware of the matter said on Friday.

In the first incident, a 72-year-old coffee planter was killed by a wild elephant near his home at Basavanalli in Virajpet taluk of Kodagu district. The deceased was identified as Sollekodi Chinnappa, police said.

Virajpet DCF B Jagannath said that Chinnappa stepped out of his house around 2am on Friday when the elephant, which was nearby, trampled him to death. “The coffee grower was alerted by some noise, but failed to see the elephant in the dark due to a power outage,” he added.

His body was transported to the Virajpet taluk government hospital for an autopsy and was later handed over to his family. The state government has announced a compensation of ₹5 lakh to the family, with an additional ₹10 lakh to follow, officials said.

In the second incident, a 45-year-old coffee grower was trampled by a wild tusker at Byakaravalli village in Sakaleshpura taluk of Hassan district. The victim was identified as Shanmukha, who was killed while he was visiting his coffee estate to oversee the operations.

According to forest officials, Shanmukha, the owner of the Amruteshwar coffee estate, arrived at his property on Friday around 9am when the tusker attacked him.

An autopsy was performed at the Sakaleshpura government hospital, and the body was subsequently released to his family, they said.

In response to these events, Sanketh Poovayya, a member of the State Wildlife Board, visited Virajpet for assessment.

“Recently, we have seen a significant increase in elephant and tiger sightings in Virajpet and Ponnampete areas,” he said.

He said that shortage of food in the forests was driving elephants into human settlements, and added that the government plans to implement railway barricades to deter elephants from entering populated areas.