The Kerala Human Rights Commission (KHRC) on Saturday suo moto registered a case and ordered an investigation on the complaint that Paul, 52, who died in a wild elephant attack at Kuruva in Wayanad on Friday, did not receive timely treatment.

State Human Rights Commission acting chairperson and judicial member of the commission K Baijunath has directed Wayand District Collector and Mananthavady Government Medical College Principal to conduct an enquiry on the complaint that Paul didn’t get timely and proper medical treatment.

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Paul’s daughter has alleged that her father didn’t get proper treatment at Mananthavady Government Medical College Hospital and that there was delay in taking him to Kozhikode Medical College Hospital.

Paul, an employee of the Kuruva Tourism Project, was wounded when a herd of elephants attacked him on Friday morning.

Those present in the vicinity rushed to the spot and took Paul to Wayanad Government Medical College Hospital, Mananthavady. He was shifted to the Kozhikode Medical College Hospital in an ambulance within two hours but he succumbed to injuries in the afternoon.

According to doctors at Kozhikode Medical College Hospital, Paul was brought to the hospital two hours after the accident, which was a massive time loss in such cases.

Though the Forest Minister directed the District Administration to arrange an air ambulance to shift Paul to the Kozhikode MCH, authorities decided to use the road option as the air ambulance from Coimbatore took more time than expected.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Veena George said that the doctors had been instructed to provide all the possible medical treatment to Paul and doctors who attended him have orally informed that all the possible medical aid had been given to him.

The government has sought a report on this. After getting the report, further action would be taken, the Health Minister said.

The Wayanad District Collector on Saturday issued prohibitory orders in the district for two days in light of the escalating tension.

A protest staged by an all-party action council at Pulpally in Wayanad district Saturday morning turned violent after people’s representatives and officials representing the government failed to give the protesters a written assurance.

The protesters had raised a slew of demands, including providing an ex-gratia of Rs 50 lakh to the kin of the deceased.

While protesters agitated with Paul’s mortal remains at one corner of Pulpally, another group protested with the remains of a cow killed by a wild animal.

Paul’s body was taken home only after the intervention of some priests and leaders of political parties.

Meanwhile, the state government sanctioned an amount of Rs 10 lakh as emergency aid to Paul’s family after his relatives refused to conduct his funeral rites until a solution was found.

As the consecutive wild elephant attacks and fatalities happening in the Wyand district caught the national attention, local MP and former Congress president Rahul Gandhi will join the people of Wayanad.

He left for Wayanad from Varanasi at 5 pm on Saturday. Rahul will resume his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra from Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj on Sunday afternoon. Rahul had drawn flak for his absence in the constituency when people are in a crisis situation.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday decided to have a high-level ministerial meeting in Wayanad on February 20 to finalise real-time and proactive measures to mitigate human-wildlife conflict in the district, which has an estimated 36.5 per cent forest cover.

Back-to-back deaths in wild elephant attacks including that of Paul have forced the beleaguered people of Wayanad to come out against authorities, seeking security for their lives. Three people have lost their lives in wild elephant attacks in Wayanad in just two months.

The Congress-led UDF has observed a hartal on Saturday, seeking a permanent solution to the ongoing loss of lives due to wild elephant attacks.

The CPI-M-led LDF and the BJP also observed a hartal on Saturday in Wayanad district. While the LDF has called for hartal urging proactive interventions from state and union governments to resolve the wild animal menace. The BJP has called for hartal, seeking a comprehensive relief for the human-wildlife conflict.