According to forest officials, V Ramadass (35), an anti-poaching watcher at Hasanur forests in Erode was attacked by a female elephant roaming the forest areas with a calf on Monday. He was part of the temporary staff of the forest department. Another anti-poaching volunteer who was with him escaped to a neighbouring village.

"Ramadass was on his rounds on Monday evening with volunteer Veugopal in the Kanjanoor area on the Karnataka border when they saw the female elephant and its calf. The elephant panicked and attacked him," said N Siddhyan, Ranger, Hasanur Forest Range. Though they tried to escape, the elephant attacked Ramadass with its trunk.

Venugopal escaped to a neighbourhood village. Forest officials tried to contact Ramadass but his phone was switched off. They discovered his body on Tuesday morning and took it to Sathyamangalam Government Hospital. The post-mortem was completed by Tuesday evening. The body will be handed over to relatives on Wednesday, said Siddhyan.

Siddhyan said that the district forest department released Rs25,000 to his family on Tuesday. A total of Rs3lakh will be handed over to the family, he said.