Environmentalists come under attack

Dispute over granite quarry near Mukkom

A five-member gang of tipper lorry drivers on Monday assaulted two local environmental activists at Maranchatti, near Mukkom, in the district following a dispute over the functioning of a granite quarry in the area.

The police said Koorappally Babu and P.K. Basheer were allegedly beaten up by the gang as the two frequently organised agitations raising environmental issues.

Mr. Babu was first cornered by the gang for his involvement in filing a series of written petitions against the quarry operators to the local police. Mr. Basheer was roughed up while he was trying to capture the attackers on camera. Both of them sustained injuries on their heads and legs.

The police said the tipper lorry drivers were afraid of losing their jobs as a result of the continuing legal battle and protests. There were several similar incidents earlier where anti-quarry campaigners were threatened or beaten by alleged supporters of the quarry business, they said.

Members of a local environmental action committee said both Mr. Babu and Mr. Basheer were left unattended along the road for nearly an hour. They were hospitalised by a group of local residents and the police from Mukkom. The two claimed that they were targeted by the gang without any provocation.

Though a police squad from Mukkom station reached the spot soon after the incident, they could not trace the suspects. The details of the lorry operators at the quarry site would be tracked soon to identify the gang. Flaying the attack, various local environmental organisations sought quick legal action from the police. They alleged that the police have not taking the cases involving quarry operators seriously.

Meanwhile, the police said the quarry operator were having all the required licences and legal sanctions to do the business and that they were having no valid reason to stop its operations. Also, they claimed that all the previous complaints related to the attacks against the environmentalists were taken up very seriously by the investigation officers concerned.