Forest department officials carrying the injured officer for over six kilometres to reach a safe place.
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
A Forest department official was injured in a wild elephant attack inside the Periyar Tiger Reserve (PTR) near Thekkady on Wednesday. The injured official has been identified as Satheesh Raj, 46, a beat forest officer with the Sundaramala section under the Periyar Forest Range of the PTR.
According to PTR Assistant Field Director R. Lakshmi, the incident occurred around 12.00 p.m. near the Tamil Nadu border within the Sundaramala section. Mr. Raj and his team were returning from patrolling when they encountered a wild elephant in the Tamil Nadu forest area, which then attacked him. The officials had entered the Tamil Nadu forest zone while taking a route back to their base camp at Talayina under the Sundaramala section. The other officials narrowly escaped the attack.
Following the incident, the accompanying officials carried the injured officer for over six kilometres to reach Sankarankovil, from where he was shifted to a hospital in Puliangudi, Tamil Nadu. After receiving primary treatment, he was transferred to Thiruvananthapuram for further medical care.
Published – July 01, 2026 09:01 pm IST