Rahul Gandhi Meets Elephant Attack Victims’ Families in Wayanad

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi arrived at the home of VP Paul, a Forest Department watcher, who was killed on Sunday in Wayanad by a wild elephant. The Congress MP spoke with the victim’s family and offered his condolences to them during their time of loss. The event sparked a large-scale demonstration on Saturday in the […]

Rahul Gandhi Meets Wayanad Elephant Attack victims' families
by Avijit Gupta - February 18, 2024, 12:05 pm

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi arrived at the home of VP Paul, a Forest Department watcher, who was killed on Sunday in Wayanad by a wild elephant.
The Congress MP spoke with the victim’s family and offered his condolences to them during their time of loss.
The event sparked a large-scale demonstration on Saturday in the Wayanad district’s Pakkam, close to Pulpally.

Rahul Gandhi abruptly ended his “Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra” in Varanasi yesterday and departed for his Wayanad seat in response to public outcry over locals’ deaths at the hands of wild elephant attacks.

Gandhi has also addressed a letter to Pinarayi Vijayan, the chief minister of Kerala, asking for prompt action on the event.

The victim was attacked, according to Kerala Forest Minister AK Saseendran, after the elephant entered a neighborhood close to Mananthavady.

Following the event, the Kerala government promised a job to one of the deceased’s family members and issued a compensation of Rs 10 lakh.

In the meantime, Wayanad wildlife attack issues were the subject of a high-level conference that was ordered by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday.

The Kerala Chief Minister has announced that on February 20, a meeting will take place in Wayanad. Ministers from the Revenue, Forest, and Local Self-Government Departments will be present at the conference. The gathering will be attended by representatives of the people, including those from the Wayanad district’s local bodies, and officials, including high-ranking officials.

Simultaneously, there was a report of another occurrence in which a dead cow was discovered, allegedly as a result of a wild animal attack this morning close to Kenichira. The desire for swift action was heightened when furious people brought the cow’s body and placed it on the bonnet of a forest department jeep.

Authorities in Wayanad are struggling to deal with the growing number of wildlife-related incidents, thus things are still tense there. It is expected that strategies and mitigation measures to address the growing issues posed by these attacks in the region would be discussed at the upcoming high-level meeting.