KOCHI: Reminiscent of scenes in Lijo Pellissery’s award-winning movie Jallikattu, a buffalo ran amok creating a scare among the residents at Kaloor on Thursday. Brought for slaughtering, the buffalo had broken free while being taken to Kathrikadavu. It took Fire and Rescue Services personnel some effort to tame the animal which was on the run for over an hour.
Though most residents were indoors due to the lockdown, Babu K Peter, a resident of Fifth Avenue in Kaloor, had a lucky escape. He had gone out to find means to refill an LPG cylinder. “Around 11. 15 am, I saw a buffalo speeding towards me,” he said.
“From the Kaloor-Kathrikadavu road, it veered into our lane. Somehow, I managed to stand close to the compound wall of a house and the buffalo passed by. It ran back and forth along our lane for a few minutes before the Fire and Rescue Services team brought it under control.” Officers said the buffalo was brought from Tamil Nadu to a slaughterhouse and was then bought by a Kathrikadavu native.
“We received an emergency call around 10.40 am saying a buffalo had run amok near the Pavakkulam Temple,” said an officer with the Gandhi Nagar Fire and Rescue Services Station.
“Our team could not spot the buffalo. Around 11. 40am, another call from the Police Control Room helped us locate the buffalo. As we reached Kaloor, it was running around along the Kaloor-Kathrikadavu Road. After it entered a small lane, we used nets to block one end of the lane. Attempting to escape, the buffalo attacked our officers. But we managed to bring it under control with the help of the owner and his employees. The buffalo was later handed over to its owner,” said an officer.Fire and Rescue Services personnel said similar incidents are frequent in Kochi.