A 44-year-old man was killed in an elephant attack at Arattupara in O’Valley, Gudalur, Tamil Nadu, on Saturday night. The deceased has been identified as Assari Ravi.

The incident occurred while Ravi and his friends were preparing food for devotees at the Bhagavathi Temple as part of the annual festival. Ravi had gone to fetch water from a nearby source when the elephant attacked him, said local Congress leader K Nagaraj. He died on the spot.

The incident sparked protests in the area, with residents gathering at the site and allegedly attempting to attack a forest department vehicle. Two persons were arrested in connection with the unrest, and more than 40 police personnel were deployed to bring the situation under control, Nagaraj said.

He also alleged that the forest department’s elephant tracking system, which alerts residents about animal movements through WhatsApp groups, failed to warn people about the elephant’s presence in the locality.

Forest department officials, accompanied by a heavy police contingent, shifted the body for postmortem during the night. It was handed over to the family by 11 am on Sunday. The last rites are scheduled for 4 pm. Ravi is survived by his wife, Bhavani, and two children.

According to research data by the forest department, over 15 people have lost their lives in elephant attacks in the O’Valley village panchayat over the past decade. Meanwhile, between 2017 and 2023, 45 deaths were reported in the Gudalur forest division, to which O’Valley also belongs.

A problem elephant named Radhakrishnan is believed to have been responsible for 14 deaths in the O’Valley panchayat. The highest number of fatalities was recorded in 2023, with nine deaths. The animal was later captured and relocated to the elephant camp at Theppakkad in the Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary.