The incident came to light when the villagers of Erathangal spotted the lifeless body of the elephant. Damodaran, a villager, had taken the piece of land on lease and erected electric fencing to protect the crops from damage by animals such as wild boars. The connection to electrify the fencing was drawn from the supply for the motor pump.
The elephant, aged seven to eight years, had moved to Pernambut range from the Koundenya Wildlife Sanctuary in Andhra Pradesh. It was electrocuted when it came in contact with the electric fencing around the field.
Following this, Dinkar Kumar, conservator of forests, vellore circle, Sumesh Soman, district forest officer, Vellore and Krishnamoorthy, forest range officer of Pernambut inspected the land and conducted an inquiry.
"The elephant comes under Schedule I of the Wildlife Act 1972. We have filed a case under the provisions of the Act and are on the lookout for Damodaran, who has fled after the incident," Mr. Soman said. A postmortem was performed by veterinarian at the spot.
He added that Pernambut range shares border with Andhra Pradesh, and there is frequent movement of elephants. "In Vellore district, Pernambut range is the only area where there is movement of elephants that comes from the sanctuary. As crops are being damaged by wild animals frequently, we are compensating farmers accordingly," he said.
Last year, the department disbursed compensation over Rs 9 lakh. Of this, more than 50% has been given to the farmers in Pernambut range, he said and added that around Rs 4 lakh disbursed to the farmers as compensation for the crop damage this year. Of these, Rs 2 lakh has been given to the farmers in Pernambut.
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