Sighting of elephant in Asifabad worries locals

Residents of Burepalli village and nearby areas are gripped with fear after a wild elephant fatally attacked a farmer on Wednesday.

Kumram Bheem Asifabad: People of Burepalli village and surrounding habitations are in the grip of fear following the killing of a farmer by a wild elephant on Wednesday.

Dwellers of forest fringe villages are familiar with carnivores such as tigers, leopards, wild dogs. But they never saw an elephant in the forests of the region. Senior citizens opined sighting of a wild elephant was an unprecedented event in the history of the district.

“I never spotted an elephant in the wild except in a zoological park in Hyderabad,” K Jaganmohan Goud from Bejjur mandal centre said.

The movement of the tusker created panic among residents of Burepalli and Ranavelli, Korsini, Lambadihetti, Gangapur villages in Chintalamanepalli mandal. They requested officials to take steps to divert the animal into the forest.