Mysuru Dasara's centrepiece jumbo Arjuna killed by wild tusker
Bengaluru, Dec 4: The majestic elephant Arjuna, who carried the golden 'howdah' during the famous Mysuru Dasara procession, died in a fight with a wild tusker during a capture operation in Karnataka's Hassan district on Monday, officials said.
Sixty four-year-old Arjuna, who served the forest department for almost 52 years and had participated in many elephant capture operations, died near Yeslur in Sakaleshpur, they said.
According to forest officials, the elephant capture operation was carried out after a number of human deaths were reported in Hassan and Chikkamagaluru belt.
Owing to the pressure from the locals to tame the wild elephants, an operation was launched in the Hassan district's in Belur taluk on November 24, they said.
"Five elephants were captured from November 24-30, of which three have been left in other forest areas after fixing radio collars on them. Two of the female elephants which were also darted were radio collared and reunited with their families. All these five elephants are being monitored," said Kumar Pushkar, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife).
"Today, the operation shifted from Belur to Yeslur where we have some troubling elephants, therefore we wanted to capture and place radio collars on them so that we could note their movement and then alert the people accordingly. But unfortunately, we lost our best elephant Arjuna in a fight. He was inducted into the forest department in 1972 and served us for almost 52 years," Pushkar added.
Arjuna carried the 750-kg 'howdah' during the Dasara procession in Mysuru eight times until 2019.
Taking to microblogging site X', Chief Minister Siddaramaiah expressed grief over the death of the famed elephant.
"It was sad to hear the demise of Arjuna', the elephant who was loved by the people and who was the centrepiece of the historic Mysuru Dasara, Jambu Sawari (parade of caparisoned elephants) for eight years successfully," he said in the post in Kannada.
"Arjuna, who served mother Chamundeshwari by carrying a golden howdah weighing exactly 750 kg, marching with utmost restraint, died in a fight with wild elephant. Arjuna walking majestically among millions of people will forever remain in the minds of Kannadigas like me," his post added.
Karnataka Environment and Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre expressed grief over the death of Arjuna, saying it was very unfortunate that the famed elephant died after being attacked by a rogue tusker.
"The rouge elephant attacked Arjuna and hit him with its tusks, causing his death," Khandre said in a statement.
"Even after the staff opened fire in the air, the tusker attacked the tamed elephant. While the other three tamed elephant withdrew, Arjuna fought alone. The veterinarian and the mahout somehow escaped," he added.
Khandre said the forest officials have fixed radio collars on five wild elephants so far.
ಐತಿಹಾಸಿಕ ಮೈಸೂರು ದಸರಾದ ಕೇಂದ್ರ ಬಿಂದುವಾದ ಜಂಬೂಸವಾರಿಯನ್ನು ಎಂಟು ವರ್ಷಗಳ ಕಾಲ ಅತ್ಯಂತ ಯಶಸ್ವಿಯಾಗಿ ನಡೆಸಿಕೊಟ್ಟು ಜನರ ಪ್ರೀತಿಪಾತ್ರವಾಗಿದ್ದ ಆನೆ ‘ಅರ್ಜುನ’ ಇನ್ನಿಲ್ಲ ಎಂಬ ಸುದ್ದಿ ಕೇಳಿ ನೋವಾಯಿತು.
— CM of Karnataka (@CMofKarnataka) December 4, 2023
ಬರೋಬ್ಬರಿ 750 ಕೆ.ಜಿ ತೂಕದ ಚಿನ್ನದ ಅಂಬಾರಿ ಹೊತ್ತು, ಅತ್ಯಂತ ಸಂಯಮದಿಂದ ಮೆರವಣಿಗೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಸಾಗುವ ಮೂಲಕ ತಾಯಿ ಚಾಮುಂಡೇಶ್ವರಿಯ… pic.twitter.com/RA2cJka6kH
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'Hats off to Captain Rohit Sharma': Cong's Shama Mohamed hails Champions Trophy win
New Delhi, Mar 9 (PTI): Congress leader Shama Mohamed, whose online posts fat-shaming Indian captain Rohit Sharma sparked a major row last week, hailed Sharma on Sunday for leading from the front in the Champions Trophy final and congratulated the team on their triumph in the tournament.
Sharma made an excellent half-century as a resolute India held their nerve to win an unprecedented third Champions Trophy title with a four-wicket victory over New Zealand in the final in Dubai.
In a post on X, Mohamed said, "Congratulations to Team India for their stupendous performance in winning the Champions Trophy 2025!"
"Hats off to Captain @ImRo45 who led from the front with a brilliant 76, setting the tone for victory. Shreyas Iyer and K L Rahul played crucial knocks, steering India to glory! A triumph to remember!" she said.
Bowling first after Rohit lost his 12th straight toss, India's spinners restricted New Zealand to 251 for seven in the allotted 50 overs, with Kuldeep Yadav (2/40) and Varun Chakaravarthy (2/45) making significant contributions with the ball.
India completed the chase of 252 with six balls to spare after Rohit (76 off 83 balls) and Shreyas Iyer (48 off 62 balls) shone with the bat.
Congress spokesperson Mohamed's posts fat-shaming Sharma had sparked a major row last Monday, riling millions of cricket fans and drawing flak from various quarters including her own party and Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya who slammed them as "deeply shameful".
BJP leaders attacked Mohamed and the Congress after she targeted the Indian cricket captain, with the ruling party's social media head Amit Malviya alleging that it was a "premeditated put down to undermine the team's morale at a crucial time".
Distancing itself from Mohamed's remarks on Sharma, the Congress had asserted that Mohamed's remarks about the cricketing legend do not reflect the party's position and asked her to exercise greater caution in future.
"The Indian National Congress holds the contributions of sporting icons in the highest regard and does not endorse any statements that undermine their legacy," Congress' media and publicity department head Pawan Khera had said.
She has been asked to delete the social media posts from X, he had said.
Mohamed had said these were her personal remarks and that an issue had been made out unnecessarily. She also said that she is proud of Sharma but was only talking about his fitness.
Congratulations to #TeamIndia for their stupendous performance in winning the #ChampionsTrophy2025! 🇮🇳🏆
— Dr. Shama Mohamed (@drshamamohd) March 9, 2025
Hats off to Captain @ImRo45 who led from the front with a brilliant 76, setting the tone for victory. @ShreyasIyer15 and @klrahul played crucial knocks, steering India to…
