Irate residents block roads after radio-collared wild elephant trampled a passerby to death in Wayanad

A tense situation prevailed in Manthawady in Wayanad after public anger over the death of a 45-year-old man in a wild elephant attack spilt onto the street on February 10.

A tense situation prevailed in Manthawady in Wayanad after public anger over the death of a 45-year-old man in a wild elephant attack spilt onto the street on February 10.

Irate residents stopped the official car of the District Police Chief, forcing him to walk to his office. They raised slogans against the Forest department, accusing wildlife enforcers of failing to turn away the radio-collared elephant from venturing into human habitation.

They also blocked roads, including the busy main thoroughfare to Mysore in Karnataka.

The marauding elephant had chased a passerby, Panachiyil Aji, into the compound of a house at Padmala and trampled him to death.

The security camera footage of the lethal human-wildlife conflict went viral on social and mainstream media, stoking public anger against local authorities.

Forest Minister A.K. Saseendran told reporters in Kozhikode that forest enforcers had been tracking the elephant since February 7.

Scores of persons thronged the Government Medical College Hospital, where Aji’s body was kept for autopsy.