Kottayam: Three people were killed in two separate incidents of gaur attacks in Kerala's Kottayam and Kollam districts.

Purathel Chackochan (70), Thomas Plavinamkuzhiyil from Kottayam and Samuel Varghese (60) from Kodinjal, Kollam died after sustaining critical injuries.

On Thursday morning, at Erumeli's Kanamala, Chackochan was attacked by a rampaging gaur while he was reading the newspaper. He was killed on the spot. Further on, the gaur went on to attack Thomas who was at the nearby rubber plantation. He too suffered grievous injuries. 

Thomas later succumbed while undergoing treatment at a hospital.

Chackochan's body was kept at a hospital in Kanjirappally after the incident.

Angered by Chackochan's death, local residents of Kanamala staged a protest against the forest department. As the residents continued the stir, tension prevailed in the area, Manorama News reported.

Following the protest, the district collector has ordered to shoot the animal. The order was issued on the direction of minister V N Vasavan. 

Gaur found dead in Kollam
In Kollam's Kodinjal, Varghese, an expatriate was gored to death by a gaur at his plot on Thursday. The gaur which strayed into the human settlement was found dead on Friday.

Gaur spotted in Chalakudy
Triggering panic, a gaur was spotted in Vettukadavu a residential area near Chalakudy river, in the wee hours of Friday.

According to local residents, the gaur was earlier spotted at Melur junction and moved to the region near Chalakudy town when they tried to shoo it away.

Forest officials from Ayyampuzha station and Koratty police are camping in the area.

The officials are trying to direct the wild animal back into the forest.

Human-animal conflicts have been on the rise in various parts of the state, especially in areas adjacent to forests, as tigers, elephants, wild boars, gaurs and so forth enter human settlements frequently during summer. There's been a sharp rise in the number of people killed by wild animal attacks in Kerala of late.