RANCHI: Ramu, a 17-year-old elephant in Ranchi’s Birsa Biological Park, crushed his mahout to death on Sunday morning. The unprecedented incident forced the park authority to lock down the facility for visitors. Mahender Singh (55 years), who hailed from Madhubani in Bihar , was found lying motionless in the elephant enclosure located at the far end of the park by other curators a little after 9am. He was rescued and taken for treatment but did not survive, the authorities said. “Singh was the eldest of three mahouts in the park and had been working since the park was established in 1992,” Dr. Ajay Kumar, the zoo’s vet, said.Puran Pahan, another mahout who attended Ramu, said the elephant was aggressive even hours after the incident. “He had turned musth (ready for mating) and is still charging at us,” Pahan said, adding that they could not make it out because there was no swelling of his glands (temporal glands between the eye and ears which usually swells when a bull elephant is ready for mating).Sunil Kumar Gupta, the director of the zoo, said though there were no external injuries on Singh, circumstantial evidences said he was attacked by Ramu. “Singh came to take the elephant out of its shed for routine ride and washing. It appears he fell from the jumbo’s back, but there are chances Ramu threw him off using the trunk,” Gupta said.This was the first such incident in the park since it was established 26 years ago, Kumar said. However, the doctor did not confirm the fact that Ramu was musth. “The cause of death can be ascertained once the autopsy report arrives. We have informed Ormanjhi police station about it,” he added.Spread over 104 hectares, the park is home to three elephants. Ramu, deserted by his herd in Seraikela in 2006, was brought here and placed under the care of Singh. Samrat, who was rescued from Bandgaon in West Singbhum, was brought to the park in 1998. Lakshmi was brought from Bero in Ranchi in 2001.

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