President Ram Nath Kovind, PM Narendra Modi condole Karnataka forester's death

Ram Nath Kovind

President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday condoled the death of Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer S. Manikandan who was crushed to death by an elephant at the Nagarhole National Park in Kodagu district of Karnataka on Saturday. "The country will remember Manikandan for his rich service and passion towards wildlife and forest conservation," Modi tweeted on Sunday.

Manikandan, 45, an IFS officer of 2001 batch, was trampled to death by a tusker when he was inspecting the park along with a few other officials on Saturday afternoon to study the damage caused by a fire on Friday. Nagarhole National Park, also known as the Rajiv Gandhi National Park, is about 280km southwest of Bengaluru.

"Sad to learn about the death of Manikandan, who lost his life in a freak incident while on duty," Kovind had tweeted. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah pointed to the need to ensure safety of the forest officials, while condoling the officer's death. "The forest department needs to pay serious attention to the safety of forest workers," he said.

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