Andhra Pradesh: Wild Elephant Tramples Farmer To Death
The forest department will provide an ex-gratia of ₹10 lakh to his wife under G.O. Ms. No. 29, dated July 22, 2024: Reports
NELLORE: A 69-year-old farmer was trampled to death by a wild elephant while harvesting his paddy crop in the early hours of Friday at Vallivedu village in Pakala mandal of Tirupati district.
The deceased, B. Thimma Reddy, of Devineni Indlu village under E-Palaguttapalli gram panchayat, had gone alone to his field after 10 p.m. on Thursday to manually harvest the crop. At around 1 a.m. on Friday, he reportedly came face-to-face with a wild elephant and was unable to escape in the darkness.
His family, who live in Tirupati, remained unaware of the incident until Friday evening when repeated phone calls to him went unanswered. Neighbours searched the fields and found his body at around 7.30 p.m.
Officials led by the Tirupati district forest officer and the forest range officer, Panapakam, along with Pakala police, visited the spot and conducted an inquiry. The body was shifted to SVRR Government Hospital, Tirupati, for post-mortem examination.
Thimma Reddy is survived by his wife, Manemma, and two sons. The forest department will provide an ex-gratia of ₹10 lakh to his wife under G.O. Ms. No. 29, dated July 22, 2024.
Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan expressed grief over the farmer's death. After reviewing the incident with forest officials, he described it as unfortunate despite continuous monitoring of elephant movement and regular alerts issued to nearby villages.
He conveyed his condolences to the bereaved family and directed forest officials and the district administration to provide all possible assistance and ensure prompt disbursal of the ex-gratia.
The forest department said the elephant task force has been continuously monitoring elephant movement and alerting residents. It appealed to people not to venture alone into agricultural fields at night in areas where elephant movement has been reported.
