Foresters perform puja to trap jumbo in Coimbatore

Coimbatore: In the hope of capturing a rogue tusker without losing any human lives, the forest department officials at the reserve forest near Madukkarai performed special puja to the tribal deity Karuppannaswamy on Saturday.
They also offered liquor to the deity and one of the tribals performed the `Swamy aatam' (a form of traditional religious dance) to please the deity to avoid any untoward incidents and eventually ensure successful translocation of the elephant.
On Saturday morning, forest veterinarians NS Manoharan and Vijayaragavan and anti-poaching watchers gathered at the temple located under a tree in the forest and performed the puja. Later, they walked to Sorimalai to monitor the lone tusker. Though the team found the tusker, they couldn't tranquillise it. Meanwhile, people from Ettimadai, rushed to the Sorimalai hills and spotted the tusker. According to the sources, the tusker joined two more tuskers in the evening. Hence, the forest department was unable to separate the lone tusker from his herd.