Kerala: Youth Congress march turns violent in Wayanad; Police resorts to lathi charge

Wayanad (Kerala): A protest march taken out by the activists of Youth Congress here alleging failure of the state government in addressing human-animal conflict turned violent on Wednesday.

Police had to resort to lathi charge and water cannons to disperse the angry agitators who allegedly tried to jump barricades placed near the district collectorate.

The Youth Congress (YC) carried out the protest march a day after the Congress-led UDF boycotted an all-party meeting convened by a ministerial delegation here demanding the resignation of Forest Minister A K Saseendran.

Though the protest march began on a peaceful note, it turned violent after the YC workers tried to jump the police barricade.

Police resorted to water cannons to disperse the protesters who allegedly pelted stones at the cops later.

In a subsequent lathi charge, some YC activists and police personnel suffered injuries.

The agitators also squatted on the road and staged a sit-in protest later raising slogans against the state government.

Wayanad has been witnessing intense protests for over a week following back-to-back deaths of two local men due to the attacks by wild elephants.

A ministerial delegation, which visited here yesterday on directions of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, discussed the remedial proposals and took decisions during a meeting attended by the local people's representatives and officials.

The state government also pledged to deploy additional rapid response teams and promised to cover treatment expenses for individuals injured in wild animal attacks here, following protests demanding a permanent resolution to frequent human-wildlife conflicts.

Congress leader and Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi and Governor Arif Mohammed Khan had visited the family members of those who were killed in animal attacks.