Mysuru: Dasara elephant mahout assaulted by tourist

Team Udayavani, Oct 21, 2018, 11:29 AM IST

Mysuru: An elephant mahout was allegedly assaulted by a tourist visiting the Mysuru Palace premises on the occasion of Dasara.

The incident took place on Saturday when Thimma, mahout of Dasara elephant Balarama, and other caretakers urged the tourists from venturing close to the elephant. One of the tourists, however, turned a deaf ear to the request and attempted to feed a piece of sugarcane to the elephant. Heated arguments ensued between Thimma and the tourist when the former snatched the sugarcane piece. Angered by this the tourist allegedly assaulted Thima. However, the police, who were nearby, controlled them.

Meanwhile, Deputy Conservator of Forests Sidramappa Chalkapure has said that suitable action would be taken into the matter after going through the CCTV footage from the cameras installed on the Palace premises.