Kalpetta: Meppadi police completed the inquest of Erattukundu Balakrishnan alias Balan, 26, a native of Attamala who was killed in the wild elephant attack on Tuesday night. Around noon, police shifted the body to the Government Taluk Hospital in Sultan Bathery for post-mortem after pacifying the people who staged a protest. 

The kith and kin did not allow the forest officials to move the body for post-mortem till the revenue and forest officials reached the spot. The officials assured the protesters that all necessary assistance would be done. The government has handed over Rs 5 lakh, the first instalment of the ex-gratia announced for Balan's family. The remaining Rs 5 lakh will be disbursed soon. 

According to Meppadi panchayat president K Babu, the tribal families belonging to the Paniya tribe are reluctant to interact with other communities. 

"We had a series of attempts to relocate them. Before the landslide, we tried to shift them to another spot, but they evaded the attempt by going back to deep forests. Many of them had left the place just before the devastating landslide but refused to be in the relief camps," he said.

Meanwhile, the forest department is yet to confirm the possibility of giving one of the immediate relatives a temporary job in the department. 

Post landslide, there have been no human habitats at Attamala apart from a few tribal settlements. By twilight, the region had been taken over by the animals. Though natives demand immediate rehabilitation of the families, officials of tribal departments are clueless as the community members are reluctant to live among the others. It is believed that Balan might have attacked when he was returning after the day's work, or he might have visited a few relatives who reside in another part of Attamala.