A sadhu was killed by an elephant at the Bhootnath temple in Swargashram area of Rishikesh late on Thursday night. The man, identified as 55 year old Ramkrishna, was sleeping in a residential area adjacent to the forest when the incident occurred.
People present at the site averred that the elephant had attacked the man. Before that, the elephant broke a temporary shop nearby. Police station officer Rakendra Kathait said that the monk Ramakrishna had been living in the Swargashram area for the long time.
At around 2 AM, an elephant arrived outside the Bhootnath temple in the Swargashram area. The pachyderm first broke a kuccha construction being used as a shop. The jumbo then entered the Bhootnath temple compound and reportedly killed the man sleeping there. Hearing the screams of the man, the people living nearby reached the spot and immediately informed the forest department staff of the Gauhari range. The forest workers who reached the spot fired a round in the air and drove the elephant into the forest.
The injured monk was taken to AIIMS in Rishikesh where he was declared dead by the doctors.
According to the forest department, an elephant has been roaming in the Swargashram and nearby residential area for the past several days. The department has appealed the locals to abstain from moving in the areas adjoining the forests at night.