A tribal couple was crushed to death after a wild elephant attacked them in the Aralam Farm of Kannur. Local residents are protesting and UDF and BJP gave separate calls for a 'hartal' in Aralam panchayat on February 24.
Velli (80) and his wife Leela (72) were collecting cashew nuts on their land, about 660 meters away from the Rapid Response Team (RRT) Office. They were residents of Block 13 at Aralam farm where they were killed by the elephant.
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The residents and local representatives did not allow authorities to take the bodies of Velli and Leela to the hospital. They were demanding that the district collector should visit the spot and clarify the response of the government over this incident.
Forest Minister A K Saseendran has asked Kannur District Collector (DC) Arun K Vijayan to submit a report on the incident. He will visit the farm on February 24 afternoon and attend the all-party meeting at the Aralam Gram Panchayat. The victim’s family will get a compensation of Rs. 20 lakh from the Emergency Disaster Management Committee that is headed by the Kannur DC. The Forest Department announced that they will give Rs. 10 lakh per victim.
As there is a spike in the human-wildlife conflicts since 2014, the locals are worried about their lives. Authorities are working to ensure that more such tragedies do not happen in future.