Last Update: January 06, 2023, 19:08 IST
After news spread of Bhaira’s capture, many villagers gathered to watch him as he was loaded onto a truck and driven into a remote forest (Representational photo: Reuters)
Recently, it was reported that ‘Bhaira’- the elephant, which had killed two villagers, was captured by the Karnataka Forest Department after a special drive was launched to capture it.
The terror of ‘Bhaira’ elephant has returned once again in Mudigere area of Chikkamagaluru district of Karnataka. Weeks after the alleged success of ‘Operation Bhaira’ to capture the trouble-making elephant, locals are claiming that the Karnataka Forest Department caught the wrong pachyderm and the elephant is still making life difficult for villagers in the area.
Several incidents of conflict between humans and elephants have been reported across Karnataka of late. In Mudigere area of Chikkamagaluru district, three elephants have made life hell for the farmers by continuously creating havoc. The worst of the three has been identified as ‘Bhaira’ by the Forest Department.
For months, several protests have been organized by villagers demanding the trapping of these pachyderms. In one such protest gone wrong, angry villagers attacked MLA MP Kumaraswamy who tried to pacify them.
Recently, it was reported that ‘Bhaira’ the elephant, which had killed two villagers, was captured by the Karnataka Forest Department after a special drive was launched to capture it.
As the news of Bhaira’s capture spread, many villagers gathered to watch him being loaded onto a truck and taken away into the forest.
However, this respite was short-lived, as a few days back the villagers realized that the forest department had captured the wrong elephant. Instead of Bhaira, they caught some random tusker and shifted him to another forest.
Now pictures and videos of both the elephants – Bhaira and the one caught by the forest department – are doing the rounds on social media.
People are claiming that the two elephants are looking different as Bhaira’s tusks were slightly curved while the other captured elephant had smooth straight tusks.
“If Bhaira was caught as told by the forest department, why did they have to continue the search? This means that they also know that the captured elephant is not Bhaira”, said Venkanna, a villager.
Former MLA BB Ningiya has also made a similar claim. “These forest department people have caught another rogue elephant and told everyone that it is Bhaira. If there is again an elephant problem in the area, we will definitely protest.
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