Tue Feb 25 15:58:32 UTC 2025: ## Tribal Groups to Sue Over Elephant Deaths in Kannur
**Kannur, Kerala – February 26, 2025** – Tribal organizations in Kannur, Kerala, are launching legal action against local officials following the deaths of a tribal couple killed by wild elephants. The Adivasi-Dalit Munneta Samithi and Adivasi Gothra Mahasabha plan to file culpable homicide charges against the Kannur District Collector and the District Scheduled Tribes Officer with both the National and State Scheduled Tribes Commissions.
The organizations allege that the officials, responsible for the Tribal Rehabilitation Development Mission (TRDM) overseeing the Aralam farm settlement, failed to provide adequate protection to tribal residents, leading to the deaths of Velli and Leela. M. Geethanandan, State coordinator of the Adivasi Gothra Mahasabha, claims this negligence constitutes ethnic atrocities and deliberate homicide. He argues that the responsibility for tribal safety extends beyond the Forest Department’s wildlife conservation mandate.
Geethanandan points to 17 deaths since the Aralam farm rehabilitation project began, attributing them to the lack of sufficient protection. He criticizes the removal or destruction of a pre-existing 13-km electric fence, leaving the settlement vulnerable. Despite repeated pleas and protests, he alleges, officials ignored the community’s concerns and the slow progress on a protective wall, hampered by contractual disputes and tree-cutting permissions.
The tribal groups are demanding immediate action, including the reinstatement of electric fencing, employment opportunities, tribal involvement in wildlife monitoring, the establishment of guard posts, closure of Forest Department offices within tribal areas, ₹1 crore compensation per victim, and an independent assessment of damages. The continued inaction, they warn, will only exacerbate the crisis.
First Piper 