COIMBATORE: The death of a 37-year-old man in a wild elephant attack at O’ Valley near Gudalur triggered violent protests on Saturday night, with angry villagers assaulting forest department personnel, vandalising vehicles, and clashing with police.
The deceased, Ravi alias Kalaiselvan, a carpenter from Arottuparai in ‘O’ Valley Panchayat, died on the spot in a wild elephant attack on Saturday, around 9 pm.
Soon after the incident, the forest and police teams rushed to the area. However, angry villagers refused to allow them to remove the body, while blaming them for preventing elephant movement in the locality.
Tension escalated with a section of the crowd attacking the forest staff, while two vehicles of the forest department were also damaged. When police attempted to bring the situation under control, the villagers got into an argument, with some pulling off the name badge of a senior police official, resulting in a flare-up.
Following the incident, additional police forces were deployed, and the area was brought under thick security cover to prevent further violence. Police also arrested two persons identified as Mani (29) and Arumugam alias Anand (40) and remanded them in judicial custody after producing them in a court in Gudalur.
The body of the deceased was sent for a post-mortem to Gudalur Government Hospital on Sunday, early morning hours. It was later handed over to the family after the procedure. The New Hope police have also registered a case, and further investigations are under way.