A 76-year-old woman and her three grandchildren were attacked by a two-member gang of migrant workers near a granite quarry at Cheluppara in Thottumukkam on Friday.
The woman, who suffered serious injuries on her hand, was admitted to the Mukkom Primary Health Centre after the incident. One of the children also sustained minor injuries in the assault.
Residents from the area said Eliyamma Palathingal and her grandchildren were manhandled when they protested against the contamination of a local rivulet with the waste water from the nearby M-sand unit. To scare the protesters, the quarry workers also locked them inside a room, they said.
Seeking the arrest of the attackers, the family blocked a rural road leading to the quarry site on Saturday. Palathingal Johnson, son of Ms. Ealiyamma, said the family had been bearing the brunt of unsafe quarrying in the area with uncontrolled blasts and air pollution.
Sources said the police had taken into custody two suspected migrant workers in connection with the incident. A case has also been registered on the basis of the family’s petition against the attackers. Environmental activists alleged that the quarry operators wanted to evict the family from the site through brutal means.
