17 arrested for attack on forest dept jeeps

Udhgamandalam/Wayanad: Seventeen persons have been arrested for allegedly indulging in arson and violence, including burning forest department jeeps, after a woman estate worker was killed by a tiger last week in Pattavayal in Nilgiris District, police said.

Those who had indulged in violence were identified with the help of footage from cameras placed by forest department personnel and were arrested from their homes Wednesday late night, they said.

Police said they suspected the involvement of some anti social elements and Naxalites in the attacks and said the arrests would continue, as cases had been registered against 500 persons.

Over 700 villagers had staged a protest after the woman was mauled to death on February 14, demanding that authorities shoot dead the man eater. They burnt three jeeps, ransacked the forest department office and also attacked police, injuring three women constables.

The tiger had also killed a farmer at Noolpuzha in Waynad District in Kerala.

Wednesday, the tiger was shot dead in a joint operation by Special Task Force of Tamil Nadu and Kerala Forest Departments and police personnel of both states in Penna forest area, some 80 km from here.