Telangana: Morning jogger’s close shave with rogue elephant

Still shocked over his near brush with death, Sudhakar recalled that he managed to reach a relative's house out village outskirts and climbed atop it.

Kondapalli: What was supposed to be an invigorating morning jog on Thursday, turned out to be a scary experience for Elkari Sudhakar, who managed to run away from a charging rogue elephant that trampled to death two villagers in the last 48 hours.

Forty-five-year Sudhakar, a former sapanch, was on his regular morning jog when he noticed a tree shaking violently signalling the presence of the tusker, near the farm where a villager Karu Posham was trampled to death minutes before.

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“I realised I am going to face a problem. I began sprinting across the fields as the elephant, just about 10 yards away started charging. I managed to outpace it”, Sudhakar recounted his harrowing experience.

Still shocked over his near brush with death, Sudhakar recalled that he managed to reach a relative’s house out village outskirts and climbed atop it.

From the rooftop, he could see two other unsuspecting morning joggers Upasi Sanjeev and Srikanth. Alerted by his shouts, they ran back into the village.

It was Sanjeev and Srikanth, who mustered their courage later after the wild elephant disappeared and went into the fields. They found the twisted body of Posham, who was attacked by the pachyderm.

They later alerted the police and forest officials. The villagers who noticed the elephant recalled that it had trumpeted at least four times.

Interestingly, it did not damage a water melon and other crops through which it passed before attacking the farmer