A group of villagers assaulted a forest guard and set fire to his motorbike after a 35-year-old man was found dead inside the forest area near Melpuzhudiyur village near Chengam on Thursday.
The forest guard, Thandavarayan, aged about 54 years, was badly beaten up by the mob and admitted to the Government Hospital in Chengam.
According to the officials of the Forest Department, Thandavarayan, along with forest watcher Dinakaran, 57, was on regular patrolling. They were keeping a check on poaching and illegal sand mining.
They found Thirumal, a resident of Melpuzhudiyur village, quarrying sand illegally in the forest area near Sandagoundanur Pudur. He was loading the sand on to a bullock cart. The forest personnel informed a senior official and were told to impose a spot fine. They told Thirumal to come to the forest range office and pay the fine. However, relatives later found Thirumal dead in the forest area.
Forest officials said as Thirumal did not turn up at the range office after a couple of hours, Thandavarayan and Dinakaran returned to the village.
A few of the villagers roughed up Thandavarayan assuming that the forest department personnel caused Thirumal’s death. Dinakaran fled the spot. Thandavarayan was injured and admitted to the GH in Chengam. The mob also set fire to Thandavarayan’s motorbike.
Officials said Dinakaran’s whereabouts were not known. Meanwhile, relatives of Thirumal staged a protest with his body. Police rushed to the spot and pacified the protesters. The body was sent for post mortem.
Officials said they were awaiting the post mortem report to ascertain the cause of death.
