Madikeri: A tribal who fought in the Diddalli protest and was put up in a temporary accommodation at Diddalli died of cardiac arrest on Sunday.
The incident has fueled a sense of tense atmosphere in the region, which had returned to normalcy after witnessing fierce protest. However, the stern stand of the family members of the deceased prevented Diddalli from running into another episode of protests.
The deceased is Yaravara Nanja (45), originally from Toochamakeri of Ponnampet.
Keeping the death as an issues, Diddalli Tribal leaders who were in the forefront of the recent protests said that Nanja had taken a loan of Rs 1.80 lac from the owner of the plantation where he was working and since he could not repay the loan, the owner had kept Nanja and his family confined to the plantation. Due to mental trauma, Nanja died, argue the leaders.
As the news of Nanja’s death spread, Incharge SP Muthuraj, DySP and others rushed to the spot sensing that the matter can snowball into a crisis.
However, Bhoji, wife of Nanja did not stand by the tribal leaders’ argument and said that the plantation owners had taken good care of them and that Nanja’s death had nothing to do with the plantation owners.
With Bhoji’s stern stand on her husband’s death, the matter ended peacefully. Nanja’s family took the dead body to Ponnampet, without leaving any room for protests and commotion.
