Ex-MLA killed by pet elephant

LUCKNOW: Ram Lakhan Verma, forest minister in Mayawati’s cabinet in 1995, was on Sunday trampled to death by his elephant, Lal Bahadur. The tusker turned wild at Verma’s home at Pahapur village in Ambedkar district.
Residents and district authorities struggled for about two hours to rein in the elephant before he was shot dead, as he neared a thickly-populated area.
Police said the tusker had been restless since Saturday and was kept under constant watch. Verma rushed back from Lucknow when he was told of his elephant’s strange behaviour.
Verma took him to a mud-mound near Bharbharpur on the village outskirts.

Verma climbed on the mound and tried to hit Lal Bahadur on the forehead with a sharp-edged weapon.
The weapon got stuck in the elephant’s ear. In pain, the elephant moved backwards. Verma, who was still holding the weapon, lost control and fell down. The elephant crushed him to death, before storming towards the village. The district authorities decided to gun him down when he was heading straight for the village.