Hassan: A 20-year-old elephant was mowed down by a speeding goods train in Kaakanamane village on the Sakleshpur-Subramanya Ghat section on Monday. The train might have hit the elephant while it was trying to cross the railway track, according to forest department authorities.Forest department personnel reached the spot after being informed by a gangman on duty. The train driver also reported the incident at Balupete railway station. Railway sources said that the incident took place around 10km from Sakleshpur railway station.After postmortem on the spot, the carcasses burnt. Veterinarians, who conducted the postmortem, said it was a clear case of an accident. “The engine must have hit the animal leading to its death,” said ACF Lingaraju,” adding that the forest department is probing the case.Forest department authorities said that they will be able to identify train involved in the incident based on the time of death. “We will issue show-cause notice to the pilot and co-pilot after seeking government permission and holding discussions with the Mysuru railway zonal officials,” said DCF Shivaram Babu.This is the second such incident on the stretch in the past six months. On June 3, two elephant calves were killed by a speeding train. Babu said that such incidents can be prevented if loco pilots are cautious while moving through the ghat section and forested areas. “It is not clear whether they had used lights and horns frequently and slowed down the speed of the train on the stretch,” he said.Authorities said that following an accident in June, guidelines were issued to prevent such wildlife casualties by using lights, blowing horns, putting signboards and moving slowly in the forest range.

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