A former minister of Uttar Pradesh was killed by his own elephant in Paharpur village, Ambedkar Nagar district, on Sunday afternoon.

Ram Lakhan Verma was the forest minister in Mayawati's first Cabinet in 1995. He later defected from the Bahujan Samaj Party to the Samajwadi Party.

Apart from the pachyderm, there were horses, pedigreed dogs and deer in his bungalow.

"The elephant had gone out of control of the mahout. When Verma tried to intervene, the elephant trampled him," according to the police.

"After the villagers tried to gun down the elephant, we called the PAC [Provincial Armed Constabulary]," Superintendent of Police K N Kureel told rediff.com

PAC jawans then shot dead the animal, he added.

"We could not have afforded loss of any more human lives, so we had no choice but to shoot the elephant," said A K Jain, Inspector General of Police, Lucknow zone.

However, the Director of the Lucknow Zoo, Eva Sharma, said there was no need to kill the elephant, which could have been controlled by wildlife experts.

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What do you think about the story? Read what others have to say: Number of User Comments: 25 Sub: MY DEEPEST SYMPATHIES TO THE ELEPHANT Not even a single message here shows any regret for the minister. That shows the kind of confidence that our country has on our politicians.And, ... Posted by Ramki Sub: What have we come to 90% of the replies here congratulate the Elephant. Whatever hatred u have toward the MP does not justify this accident. How can people be so ... Posted by Sashi Sub: RE:Elepahant as watchdog Common dude.. she is the only one in Indian scenariio. I think she has guts which none of her male counter parts in India can ... Posted by Prem Sub: elephant kills mp Why should he keep an elephant at homE? Posted by Jay Sub: Check if Elephant & other animals kept legally Police should check that the former minister kept elephant & other animals only after legal permits etc, even though being a former forest minister this ... Posted by Vinay