Tribal organisations, including the Adivasi-Dalit Munneta Samithi and Adivasi Gothra Mahasabha, have decided to approach the National Scheduled Tribes Commission and the State Scheduled Tribes Commission to file a case against the Kannur District Collector and the District Scheduled Tribes Officer on culpable homicide charges.
The move follows the death of tirbal couple Velli and Leela, who were killed by wild elephants at the Aralam farm.
M. Geethanandan, State co-ordinator of the Adivasi Gothra Mahasabha, told The Hindu that the District Collector, as Chairman of the Tribal Rehabilitation Development Mission (TRDM), and the District Scheduled Tribes Officer, as the Mission’s district convener, had the administrative responsibility for the deaths.
Mr. Geethanandan alleged that repeated attacks amounted to ethnic atrocities and said that officials had committed deliberate homicide with racial negligence.
He came down on the view that the Forest department alone was responsible for tribal safety, arguing that its role was limited to wildlife conservation.
According to Mr. Geethanandan, as many as 17 people have died since the rehabilitation project was launched at the Aralam farm.
“The deaths occurred because settlers were not provided with adequate protection. The authorities responsible for their safety have failed in their duties,” he said. Despite repeated incidents over a decade, no action was taken by the TRDM, he alleged.
Mr. Geethanandan pointed out that when the Aralam farm was purchased for tribal rehabilitation at ₹42 crore, a 13-km-long electric fence was in place. However, it was either removed or destroyed after being handed over to tribespeople, effectively exposing them to wildlife attacks.
“Even after repeated petitions and protests, officials ignored tribespeople’s pleas,” he alleged.
The organisation also criticised the slow pace of constructing a protective wall around the settlement. Mr. Geethanandan warned that further delays due to disputes over contracts and tree-cutting permission would only worsen the crisis.
The organisation demanded immediate steps to install electric fences in areas where the protective wall was incomplete, electric fencing around clusters of tribal households to protect crops from animals, employment opportunities for resettled tribals, deployment of tribespeople in wildlife monitoring teams, the establishment of guard posts, closure of Forest department offices in tribal areas, compensation of ₹1 crore for each victim and an independent external agency to assess damage and losses suffered by the tribal community.
