Elephant tramples tribal youth, triggers violent protests (Kerala) The Hindu January 5, 2025 See link <https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/elephant-tramples-tribal-youth-triggers-violent-protests/article69065033.ece> for photo. A 35-year-old man belonging to the primitive Cholanaikar tribe living inside the Nilambur forests was trampled to death by an elephant on Saturday night. Alleging tepid response by the forest authorities, activists of the Democratic Movement of Kerala (DMK) led by P.V. Anvar, MLA, attacked the Divisional Forest Office (North) at Nilambur. Mani from Poochappara hamlet at Mancheeri, 14 km inside the Karimpuzha National Park from Karulai, confronted the elephant around 7 p.m. on Saturday while he was returning home after dropping his children at a tribal hostel at Nilambur. The elephant charged at Mani while those with him ran for cover. They alerted the forest officials about the attack. Though the forest staff shifted Mani to a hospital at Nilambur, he died around 10.30 p.m. P.V. Anvar, independent MLA of Nilambur, led a protest march to the DFO office at Nilambur condemning the forest authorities for their lackadaisical approach. The marchers broke into the DFO office and vandalised the furniture and window panes. The police arrested DMK workers Sudheer Punnappala, Shoukath and Panamaram Mustafa in connection with the attack. Mr. Anvar and his followers then marched to Government District Hospital at Nilambur, where Mani’s body was kept. The police prevented the march in front of the hospital. Mr. Anvar accused Forest Minister A.K. Sasindran of neglecting the people’s woes and speaking for the wild animals. He described the Minister as untrustworthy. Mr. Anvar alleged that the postmortem of Mani was delayed because of the failure of the police and the forest authorities. The government has announced a financial assistance of ₹10 lakh to Mani’s family. https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/elephant-tramples-tribal-youth-triggers-violent-protests/article69065033.ece