Kozhikode farmer's death in gaur attack: Inquest, autopsy delayed; hartal begins

Kozhikode:  A day after 70-year-old Palattil Abraham was killed in a gaur attack at Kakkayam here, the protesters and the relatives of the deceased said they will not allow the post-mortem till their demands are met.
Agitators have demanded a compensation of Rs 50 lakh, a government job for one of the family members of the deceased and a permanent solution to wild animal attacks. They have also asked authorities to issue a shoot-at-sight order to kill the gaur.

The district collector has called for a high-level meeting at noon to discuss the issue. The protesters said they would hand over the body for post-mortem only after receiving a favourable decision from the meeting.    

'We want the authority to take action for the safety of our people. Compensation to the family and a job to one of the family members is also important. We are looking forward to the higher level meeting,” grama panchayat president Poly Karakkada told Onmanorama.

Meanwhile, normal life came to a standstill in the hartal called at Koorachundu grama panchayat on Wednesday. Both the LDF and the UDF announced shutdown in the panchayat limits on Tuesday evening. All the schools, shops, cooperative banks and private firms remained closed. Hartal did not affect the conduct of  SSLC and Higher Secondary examinations.

The higher officials including the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) and the police officers are camping in the area. The Chief Wild Warden has issued an order to track the wild gaur and tranquillize the animal. The villagers expressed concern over the presence of the gaur and said that two gaurs have been spotted in the area in the past two days.

The authorities will hand over an emergency compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the family of the deceased farmer on Wednesday.