Munnar: The wild tusker nicknamed Padayappa that occasionally raids shops in Munnar town and its surroundings, has destroyed sacks of tea dust after pulling them out of a parked lorry.
The incident took place at 1 am on Wednesday at Grahams Land on Mattupetty road. The elephant destroyed 15 sacks of tea powder that were loaded onto the lorry which was on the way to Kochi from the Chenduvara factory of the Kannan Devan company.
The attack took place after the driver had parked the lorry on the roadside and left the vehicle in order to sleep. The elephant threw out the sacks of tea after tearing open the tarpaulin cover.
The loss is estimated at Rs 1.25 lakh.
It is believed that Padayappa searched the lorry in search of food. For the past one-and-a half months, Padayappa has been a frequent visitor at the waste treatment plant of the Nallathanni Kallar panchayat. The panchayat authorities used to leave vegetable leftovers outside the plant for Padayappa.
But, the officials of the plant complained that the elephant had caused damage to the structure. Following this, the plant authorities approached the forest department in order to chase the elephant away. The plant officials complied with the recommendation of the forest department that vegetable leftovers should not be given to the animal. Following this, Padayappa left the area and moved to the Mattupetty region.
The elephant is named after the macho character played by superstar Rajinikant in a 1999 film.
Car hits Chakkakomban
A person was injured after the car he drove rammed wild tusker Chakkakomban near Thondimala Choondal along Kochi-Dhanushkodi National Highway on Tuesday.
The incident took place around 7:15 pm when Thankaraj, a native of Choondal, and his grandson Paul Kripakaran accidentally came in front of the elephant.
Paul, who was driving the vehicle, was blinded by the pitch-dark conditions and failed to spot the elephant, which had strayed onto the road.
After being hit by the car, the animal leaned towards the vehicle. The front glass of the vehicle broke under the pressure and Thankaraj sustained an injury on his head. However, Chakkakomban fled the spot, eyewitness accounts suggested.