Idukki: CPM workers blocked the Kochi-Dhanushkodi National Highway at Pooppara on Thursday, after a plantation worker was killed in a wild elephant attack at Thalakkulam, Pooppara earlier in the morning.

The protesters are demanding immediate financial assistance for the family of Ochuthevar, a native of Bodinayakanur, Tamil Nadu. They have also raised allegations against the Forest Department and claimed that the deceased’s body was shifted to Theni Medical College without obtaining the consent of his relatives.

Ochuthevar, who was overseeing his daughter’s plantation, came under attack while entering the estate. Due to heavy fog in the area, he reportedly failed to notice the elephant inside the plantation.

Hearing the elephant’s trumpeting, local residents from nearby plantations rushed to the spot and found Ochuthevar lying injured. They carried him from Thalakkulam to Pooppara and shifted him to the hospital, but he succumbed to his injuries.