TV Journalist Covering Man-Animal Conflict Trampled To Death By Elephant

Kochi: A video journalist was trampled to death by an elephant in Kerala’s Palakkad on Wednesday.

Identified as A V Mukesh, the cameraman and columnist was attached to the Palakkad bureau of Malayalam TV channel Mathrubhumi News.

The 34-year-old Mukesh was part of a news team covering wild elephant menace in Kerala’s Palakkad district, police said.

The video journalist and his team were filming a pack of wild elephants crossing a water body in the forest area of Kottekkad when the tragedy unfolded.

According to eyewitnesses, after Mukesh tripped and fell, an agitated elephant attacked him.

He was shifted to a nearby hospital after the attack, but he was so grievously injured that his could not be saved.

“As the news team was shooting visuals of elephants crossing a river, one among the herd turned and charged towards the team. While trying to escape from the elephant, Mukesh fell on the ground and was trampled by the animal,” said a police official.

Wild elephants in the human habitats of Kottekkad village often trespass and destroy crops, creating panic among the local people.

Mukesh, who worked with the TV channel in Delhi for several years before moving to Palakkad. He used to handle a column in mathrubhumi.com which dealt with people’s survival stories, especially marginalised sections of society.