A 26-year-old man was killed in a wild elephant attack near the tourist spot of Attamala in Kerala’s Wayanad district, marking the third such fatal incident in the state in recent days. The victim was attacked at Erattu Kund in the Attamala area of Vellarimala village.
The incident has sparked protests among locals, who have been demanding urgent intervention from authorities. Protesters insist that high-ranking officials, including the District Collector, visit the scene before they allow the body to be taken away. Residents allege that wild elephants have been causing havoc in the region for days, yet the Forest Department has failed to take effective measures to drive them away.
“The Forest Department has done nothing to chase away these wild elephants despite repeated attacks,” a local resident said.
The attack comes just a day after another man, 45-year-old Manu, a native of Noolpuzha, Wayanad, was killed in a similar elephant attack. The locality is a forest fringe area on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border in the district, the police said.
Manu’s body was found by the locals, who said he was attacked by a wild elephant while returning from a shop buying groceries.
In protest of the increasing fatal incidents caused by a wild animal attack, the Farmers’ Relief Forum (FRF) called for a ‘dawn-to-dusk’ hartal in Wayanad on February 12.