Hassan: A six-month old elephant calf and a year old calf were killed when they were hit by a train while crossing the railway tracks in Sakleshpur, Hassan district, around Sunday midnight ‘
The goods train was heading towards Bengaluru from Kukke Subramanya when it hit the jumbos, and the carcasses were found 14-kms away from Yedakumari railway station in the Westrn Ghats.
Deputy Conservator of Forests, Shivram Babu said the calves appeared to be orphans as there was no sign of any herd nearby.
“If these calves were separated from a herd crossing the tracks, it would have been near even after they were killed, but there is no signs of it,” he added.
A railway official, who has been in the area for two decades, says this is the first accident of its kind he has seen on the tracks of the Western Ghats. Going by railway sources trains run at a 25 kmph speed down the Ghat and upto 20 kmph on the upwards journey.
Mr Shivram Babu said a First Information Report (FIR) would be filed against the railways over the killing of the jumbos and the case investigated.
