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© Jagdeep Rajput
A farmer, Devappa Naidu (55), of Konganapalle village on Gudupalle mandal of Kuppam constituency and Tamil Nadu border was trampled to death by a herd of elephants in the early hours of Sunday.

As the incident took place just a few meters away from Chittoor district limit, there was confusion among the police and forest personnel on both sides till noon. A boy from the village, who accompanied the farmer last night during vigil at the fields, said Devappa Naidu on hearing some big rustle in the thickets rushed there, mistaking for a raid by boars.

In the morning, villagers found the body of the farmer badly crushed, with footprints of elephants on the wet soil. , The body was shifted to Krishnagiri in Tamil Nadu for autopsy.