Wayanad: Thousands of residents, including women and children, participated in a torch-bearing protest rally at Padamala, the rural hamlet on the fringes of the jungle, from where a few villagers narrowly escaped a tiger on Wednesday morning.
The rally started at St Sebastian's Church and ended at Kurukkanmoola. The protesters, the majority of whom were farmers, carried a black banner which read “Kattu Neethi Kattil Mathi” (Laws of the Jungle Should Remain in the Jungle).
It was on Wednesday morning that Vennamattathil Lissy, who was on her way to church, luckily escaped the tiger by running into a house nearby. The tiger was then seen moving towards the house of Aikkarakkatt Sanu. The CCTV visuals of the tiger running across the road were circulated in the locality.
An infuriated public, earlier, blocked the road demanding immediate capture of the animal. Police and forest department personnel are still patrolling the area, as per reports. More forest patrolling teams were deployed in the area at night. Begur Forest Range Officer K Ragesh assured the residents that he would ensure round-the-clock surveillance in the locality.
People in the area are perturbed as they are unable to go about their work, go to church, or even send the children to school for fear of being mauled by the animal.
With the majority of forest personnel being deputed for ‘Operation Belur Makhna’, the department is short of hands to deal with the tiger crisis.
