India, April 26 -- Two people died in elephant attacks in the state in the past 24 hours, officials aware of the matter said on Friday.

In the first incident, a 72-year-old coffee planter was killed by a wild elephant near his home at Basavanalli in Virajpet taluk of Kodagu district. The deceased was identified as Sollekodi Chinnappa, police said.

Virajpet DCF B Jagannath said that Chinnappa stepped out of his house around 2am on Friday when the elephant, which was nearby, trampled him to death. "The coffee grower was alerted by some noise, but failed to see the elephant in the dark due to a power outage," he added.

His body was transported to the Virajpet taluk government hospital for an autopsy and was later handed over to his family...