Big cat menace in Gundlupet villages

Locals make a vain bid to scare elephants but they charged at them

- EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @Mysuru

TWO elephants which were sighted near Basti Hoskote in KRS backwater have surfaced in Hariharapura creating panic among the villagers. The jumbos are camping in sugarcane fields on the Bengaluru-Jalasur state highway and have destroyed the nearby paddy fields in Ambigarahalli, Mathikere and neighbouring villages causing heavy losses to farmers in KR Pet taluk.

The villagers attempted to scare elephants but in vain forcing them to run for safety after the jumbos charged at them.

Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha leader Putte Gowda has criticised forest officials for failing to ensure that elephants are sent back into the forest since last five days.