BICHOLIM
A farmer proceeding to his cashew orchard was trampled to death by an elephant at Morlem-Maharashtra, about 10 kms from Goa’s border near Dodamarg on Tuesday morning.
According to locals, Laxman Yashwant Gawas (65) was attacked by the elephant who was in the cashew orchard and died on the spot.
The death of Gawas sparked off outrage among locals in the village, as forest officers, a police team, government officers, and local leaders from different parts rushed to the site and held talks with the villagers.
The locals refused to allow the forest department and police to remove the body from the site. They also demanded the immediate capture of the wild elephant.
After about eight hours, the locals allowed authorities to shift the body to the hospital for an autopsy, but continued to hold talks with officials.
Officials informed the locals that an expert team had been summoned from Nagpur to capture the elephant.
The angry villagers blamed the administrative and forest officers for not giving serious attention to the problem of wild elephants straying into their village.
