Arikkomban, a rice-loving rogue wild elephant that raids homes and shops to eat provisions, attacked a lorry on the national highway at Thalakkulam, Poopara, at 5 am on Thursday.
The vehicle was carrying groceries from Tamil Nadu to Munnar. The elephant ate sacks of rice and sugar in the lorry. Panicked seeing the jumbo approaching the vehicle, the driver and other workers fled the scene.
In a recent incident at Panniyar, an estate supervisor narrowly escaped the attack of this elephant. Forest officials said the man was sleeping in the canteen when the elephant broke open the canteen door in search of food. On seeing the animal, he ran away to safety.
The Kerala forest department has already constituted a task force led by Dr Arun Zakariah to dart the elephant and rehabilitate it following protests by farmers and shopkeepers regarding the frequent raids by the elephant.
