The incident happened when the wild animals came in direct contact with the 440 voltage LT power line of TANGEDCO, which was cut off due to heavy rain on Tuesday night.

On Wednesday morning locals found the animals at a grove near Kallar on Mettupalayam-Ooty Road in Odanthrai Reserve Forest and informed the forest officials. The forest officials and veternarian who rushed to the spot, performed autopsy on animal carcasses, which revealed that they died due to electrocution.

According to forest department, heavy rain accompanied by strong wind swept Mettupalayam and surrounding areas on Tuesday night, in which a TANGEDCO power line got disconnected and caused the death of the animals.Usually, wild elephants frequent Kallar area, which has large number of coconut plantation, jack fruit and areca trees.

Assistant Conservator of Forest R Raj Mohan and Mettupalayam forest ranger M Nazir visited the spot and carried out the investigation. “Due to heavy wind, a coconut tree had fallen on the power cable and subsequently the power line got disconnected. The animals which used to roam around the area, came in direct contact with the disconnected power line and which caused their death. We have asked the officials of the TANGEDCO to stop power supply during wind and rainy season as there is high chance of such incidents to the animal,” said Nazir.