An elephant, which turned unruly during the Makayiram Purappad at the Bhagavathy temple, Thaikkattussery, near here, killed its mahout and created panic in the area for hours on Tuesday late night.
Suresh, 55, of Kallettukara, was killed when he was trying to tether the elephant. The elephant Choppies Kuttisankaran, who turned violent and attacked its fellow elephants at the Makayiram Purappad ceremony, ran around 20 km before it was tethered at Marathakkara by 12.30 a.m.
The elephant attacked the mahout while he was trying to bring it under control at Thaikkattussery. Though the mahout was rushed to hospital his life could not be saved. The attempt to tranquilize the elephant was not successful.
Damages railway gate
The elephant, which damaged the railway gate at Ollur, ran though the railway line for almost six km. The Mumbai-Thiruvananthapuram Express train, which reached Ollur, was stopped as the elephant started running through the rail line. The train service was resumed after the elephant was tethered.
It ran from Thaikkattussery and went through Ollur, Padavarad, Ramanchira and Elamthuruthy and reached the National Highway at Marathakkara. Though it started running through Marathakkara bypass, it didn't attack any vehicles or damaged properties.
The elephant, which entered a compound near the Marathakkara bypass was tethered there.
The police had a tough time as hundreds of people also started running after the elephant. Some people tried to stop the elephant by putting fire on the road. As the railway gate was damaged the traffic was disrupted for sometime.
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