Palakkad: Alan Joseph, the 22-year-old youth who was killed in a wild elephant attack at Mundur in Palakkad had returned to his village after quitting his job at a private firm in Kollam. A diploma holder, he had taken up a job to take care of his family. Alan planned to resume his studies and his mother Viji was happy for him.

On Sunday, Alan and Viji had a good time with his sister Ann Mary and brother-in-law Akhil Ramachandran. It was an evening well spent. The house was barely 100 metres away. They walked back, on the way they stopped for provisions and then tragedy struck. Alan was trampled to death by the elephant that stealthily charged at them from the darkness. Even as Viji lay on the road bleeding, she rang up Alan's friends and pleaded for help.

Viji sustained severe injuries to the spine, shoulder blades and ear in the attack and was later taken to Thrissur Medical College. She underwent an operation on her ear on Monday and is under observation. The life of a youth who returned home with hopes for a bright future was cut short and the villagers are simmering with rage.

"He quit his job because he had plans to continue his studies. We have been hearing about elephant sightings in the past three days but there was no alert," said Akhil. His mother is a home maker and his father works as a daily wage labourer.

M S Madhavadas, Mundur East Area BJP president and ward member, said that elephant sightings have become a common occurrence in the area in the past few years. “In the last couple of years, 2-3 people have lost their lives in elephant attacks in the area. There have been instances of elephants damaging crops as well,” he added.

According to Madhavadas, three tuskers were seen in nearby Vadakkumpuram on Saturday. Despite this, no alerts were given to residents in surrounding areas, he alleged. “If only they had warned, they would not have ventured to walk in the dark risking their lives and the youngster would not have lost his life,” the BJP ward member added.

As news of Alan’s death spread, protests erupted in Mundur. CPM and BJP workers marched to the Divisional Forest Office (DFO) in Olavacode on Monday morning, criticising the department’s failure in providing timely alerts to the locals despite multiple elephant sightings in the past few days.

V Lakshmanan, Mundur panchayat vice-president, said that forest officials would burst crackers and drive the elephants into the forest. However, the animals would venture into human settlements again.

The Olavacode Range Officials dismissed the allegations. "Alerts regarding the movement of elephants in the area were circulated in WhatsApp groups of locals beforehand. The three elephants belong to the Chenat Nair reserve forest under Palakkad division. The department is tracking the three elephants," an official said. He added that the department is planning to strengthen patrolling and install 9km-long hanging fencing in the area. Solar fencing spanning 10 km is currently installed here.

However, Madhavadas said that the solar fencing installed in the area has been damaged. The area needs Artificial Intelligence-supported fencing and the department should provide timely alerts to locals, he added.