A lone elephant trampled a forest guard to death in a village on the Tamil Nadu- Kerala border early in the morning today.

The elephant, which was frequently spotted by the villagers of Madukkarai, strayed into a farm in Kannammanaickenoor around midnight and began damaging the vegetables. Hearing the commotion, the villagers informed the forest guards.

The forest guards arrived, and in an attempt to scare the elephant away, began to explode crackers. After the explosions died down, one of the forest guards, 53-year-old Muthusamy went into the field to see if the elephant was still there. The elephant, which was hiding in the bushes, trampled him from behind.

The elephant refused to budge from the spot and did not allow anyone to come near the body. The forest guards are planning to use tranquilizers to pacify the pachyderm and send it away in order to retrieve the body.