The death of a 70-year-old man in a wild gaur attack at Kakkayam in Kozhikode district on Tuesday afternoon led to strong protests and both the Left Democratic Front and the United Democratic Front called for a hartal in Koorachund grama panchayat on Wednesday.
P.D. Abraham was killed after the wild gaur gored him at his farmland close to the Kakkayam dam, around five km from Kakkayam town, after 3 p.m. Abraham suffered a deep injury on his armpit and ribs.
Local sources said he was found in a pool of blood by his wife, Theyyamma, who reached the spot after hearing his screams. By the time he was shifted to a hospital, Abraham apparently lost a large quantity of blood. Though he was later taken to the Government Medical College Hospital, Kozhikode, he was reportedly declared brought dead. Abraham is survived by his wife and children Jomon, Jobish, and Jyotsna.
A large number of people blocked the ambulance carrying Abraham’s body when it was being shifted to the mortuary of the hospital in the evening. They were later joined by Congress activists led by District Congress Committee president K. Praveenkumar, who demanded that the District Collector immediately issue an order to shoot the gaur.
The protesters also sought a government job for one of the family members of Abraham and ₹50 lakh as compensation. They called off the protest after District Police Chief Rajpal Meena promised that an order would be issued soon.
Mr. Praveenkumar told mediapersons that Poly Karakkada, president of the Koorachund grama panchayat, had requested the District Collector to address the concerns of the people after wild gaurs were spotted in residential areas in the past two-three days. However, no steps had been taken, he alleged.
Mr. Praveenkumar alleged that this was a “government-sponsored” murder and blamed A.K. Saseendran, Minister for Forests, for the incident.
Mr. Karakkada said though the forest ranger visited the area the other day, he had the authority to only drive it back to the forests. The wild gaur was located around 12 km from the forests and it was not practical. The Forest department did not take any steps even after a woman and her child were grievously injured in a wild gaur attack at the Kakkayam hydel tourism centre last month, he alleged.
According to local sources, a wild gaur was spotted at Chalidam on Monday. The animals are reportedly coming from the Kakkayam forests to residential areas after crossing the Peruvannamuzhi reservoir.
