Nilgiris: Two plantation labourers were killed in an elephant attack at Manikalladi village near Devarshola in Gudalur on Sunday night. The deceased are identified as Ninkaraj, 68, and Ravi, 60.

Residents suspect the attack occurred while the two men were returning home after work. Their bodies were found by other labourers on Monday morning, about 200 metres from their houses. Family members did not search for them during the night as the two men were known to stay in vacant labour quarters in the plantation.

Residents said elephant sightings are common in the area and there have been earlier incidents of attacks. They alleged that repeated complaints to the forest department have not led to effective action to ensure people's safety.

Following the incident, relatives and local residents brought the bodies to Devarshola town on the Sulthan Bathery–Ooty Road and staged a protest, refusing to hand them over to authorities for postmortem.

Police were deployed in large numbers to manage traffic on the Kerala–Tamil Nadu highway. After discussions between people's representatives, relatives and forest officials in the presence of the police, the protest was called off and the bodies were handed over to the authorities.

The postmortem was conducted on Monday afternoon and the last rites were later held. Ninkaraj is survived by his wife Satyabhama and children Ratheesh, Rahul and Ranchu. Ravi is survived by his wife Susheela and children Jagan, Jayan and Ranjitha.