On October 12, a Saturday evening, auto driver KK Shaji from Kozhikode was dropping two passengers to the town when he was suddenly accosted by five men from either side and attacked.
It was 8 pm and the auto had just reached Parambil Bazar in Polur when the gang of seven - including the two passengers in the auto - surrounded Shaji and started brutally attacking him with weapons.
“He was hacked on his forehead, the back of his head and his elbows. His chin bone had been broken on both sides and had to be wired together, His forehead needed 11 stitches,” alleged his fellow associate and neighbour Ravindran.
The mining connect
Forty-six-year-old Shaji is a well-known face in Thulakulathur, his native village located 12 kms away from Kozhikode town. A local anti-mining activist here, Shaji has been protesting against the on-going laterite mining activity in the Eliyaramala hill in Thulakulathur for the past 1.5 years now. He is also the vice-chairperson of Eliyaramala Protection Council -- a local protest group comprising villagers from Thulakuthur, who have been meeting and protesting every day since mid-2018.
Following the incident, the Thulakulathur residents suspect the involvement of mining forces behind the attack.
“I don’t recall Shaji having any enemies as such. He is a BJP worker but is close to workers from other parties such as CPI(M). In fact, we also have CPI(M) members and workers supporting our protests. The only reason we can think of is our continued agitation against the single quarry operating here,” Ravindran, the chairperson of the committee, told TNM.
On top of the Eliyaramala hill, around 12 and a half acres of landl was bought by a private miner, who secured permission to mine 2.5 acres of the land to a depth of 6 metres, in order to extract laterite. The mining activities began by mid-2018 and was stopped briefly during the August floods. However, soon after the floods, the mining resumed.
According to the activists here, the groundwater level started dipping after this.
“There is an SC/ST colony on top of the hill, which consists of 70 families. They, too, claim that their public well had less water this year. A temple well in Thulakulathur, too, saw a dip in the water levels. Laterite soil holds a lot of water inside the hill, which contributes to the groundwater levels during the summer months. With mining, it not only leads to pollution but directly affects the groundwater levels in the region,” Ravindran added.
The members of the SC/ST settlement have also been protesting along with the committee in order to shut down the private quarry.
The Eliyaramala Samrakshana Committee (hill protection council) also filed a civil petition in the Kerala High Court a few months ago, which led to an ongoing two month and 20 day ban on mining in the hill.
Anti-mining protests held by the Eliyaramala Hill Protecton Council
The members were also actively discussing the next course of action in the case when the attack took place on Saturday.
Shaji, meanwhile, is undergoing treatment at at the Kozhikode medical college hospital for the last five days.
“Luckily, he was found and taken to the hospital by a group of men who were playing carroms at a club nearby. He is recovering but still cannot speak,” says Ravindran.
A case has been registered at the Chevayoor Police Station, under section 307 (attempt to murder) read with 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.
“We have filed a case against seven persons who are believed to have attacked the victim. We are still in the process of investigating and tracking down the accused and have not made any arrests yet,” a police officer from Chevayoor police station told TNM.