A Bengaluru man was trampled by an elephant while he was allegedly trying to take a selfie with the animal. A sales representative and a resident of Basavanagudi in south Bengaluru, Abhilash V (28), had trespassed into Bannerghatta Biological Park on Tuesday along with his friends, a police officer said.
Biological park authorities claimed that a rescued temple elephant named Sundar might have trampled the man. The victim’s mobile phone has been recovered from the site and police are carrying out an investigation into the incident.
According to a report in the New Indian Express, Abhilash was the only son of Vasanthkumar, a BMTC conductor. He was working with a mobile phone SIM distribution company in Koramangala.
The report quoted a relative of the victim claiming that Abhilash used to often visit the forests and knew several mahouts.
Amit Singh, SP Bengaluru Rural said that a case of trespass has been filed. Biological park authorities said as Tuesday was a holiday, BBP staff had gone home by afternoon.
A Hindu report said that the elephant was brought to Biological park by members of PETA, after he was rescued from a temple. It was a global campaign involving Paul McCartney, Amitabh Bachchan, Madhuri Dixit and Pamela Anderson that had brought Sundar out of the temple after he suffered years of abuse.
The article quoted PETA representatives claiming it was too early for the Biological park authorities to claim that the intruder was killed by Sundar.
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