They alleged that no effective preventive measures were taken despite submitting several complaints to the forest department. The incident occurred when Germalam Forest Ranger Venkatasalam was on routine patrol in the Sujilkarai area. Villagers gathered and surrounded his jeep, demanding immediate steps to prevent elephants from straying into human settlements. They also complained that forest range staff failed to respond to phone calls made to report elephant movement. Villagers further alleged that their grievances were ignored by officials and claimed that they were spoken to disrespectfully when they approached forest authorities to lodge complaints.