Rahul Gandhi visits kin of elephant attack victims in Wayanad; Minister Saseendran gives dry response

PULPALLY: Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi on Sunday visited the families of those killed in wild animal attacks. The Congress leader visited the house of V P Paul, a temporary watchman with the forest department who was trampled to death by a rogue elephant. Rahul Gandhi also visited the house of Padumala Ajeesh, who was crushed to death by pachyderm ‘Belur Makhna’ last week.

The Congress leader arrived in Wayanad on Sunday morning after temporarily suspending the ‘Bharat Nyay Yatra’ that has now reached Uttar Pradesh. Upon reaching Wayanad, Rahul Gandhi first reached the house of Ajeesh and later visited Paul’s house. AICC General Secretary KC Venugopal accompanied Rahul throughout the visit.

Ajeesh, a paddy farmer, who also worked as a driver was trampled to death by Belur Makhna on the 10th of February. To escape from the giant, Ajeesh climbed a wall and jumped to the courtyard of a house but tragically failed to maintain balance and slipped onto the ground. The rogue giant then trampled the farmer to death on the house premises.

On another note, ‘Belur Makhna’ is still roaming free on the periphery of human settlements in Wayanad, with the mission to tranquillize it not yielding any results.

Meanheile, Paul suffered a similar fate to Ajeesh near Kuruvadweep just two days ago. In the last 17 days, three people in Wayanad were killed due to wild animal attacks. Incensed by the total disarray in governance, the people protested on Saturday by blocking forest vehicles and placing a cow carcass on top of it.

Meanwhile, Forest Minister AK Saseendran responded that the violent protest would only complicate matters. The minister also blamed certain WhatsApp groups for exacerbating rumours about Wayanad.

Minister later added that there is no need to go to Wayanad to do the essential work. As per the report, the Minister may not visit Wayanad anytime soon.