Elephant Killing in Kerala: Investigation Focuses On Three Suspects

The forest department and the police are probing the incident and confident of finding the perpetrators, according to official.

A devotee performs a prayer to protest against the recent killing of a pregnant elephant in the southern Indian state of Kerala, in Kolkata on June 4, 2020. - India pledged to investigate on June 4 the death of a pregnant elephant that ate explosives-filled fruit, as cricket and Bollywood stars joined a chorus of outrage over the incident. (Photo by Dibyangshu SARKAR / AFP)

Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala): The death of a pregnant elephant in Kerala has sparked outrage across the nation. Three suspects have said to be found in initial investigations into the barbaric killing of the jumbo. A Kerala forest department team which is probing the killing of the pregnant elephant is learnt to have taken two persons into custody. The forest officials have not revealed any details about the investigation. ALSO READ: Obit: Basu Chatterjee - A Tribute To The Storyteller Who Got To The Heart Of The Middle Class The elephant, which was found dead, has come out from the habitat in the Silent Valley National Park in Palakkad district. After the gruesome incident came into light, the local Manarakadu police station on Wednesday registered a case. "The forest department and the police are probing the incident and we are confident of finding the villains behind this crime," said Sub Inspector of Police T.K. Ramachandran, according to news agency IANS. According to the news agency, the injured elephant was first spotted by locals near a water source on May 23 and after two days an expert after a medical assessment said things were bad for the animal. As per the initial inputs from the veterinarians who looked after the 15-year-old pregnant elephant, it was miscreants who usually chase away the elephants who occasionally stray into the agricultural land had kept fire crackers inside a pineapple. It is when the elephant tried to consume it the crackers played up causing injuring its upper and lower jaw and tongue. Later on May 25, it was found dead in water and the post-mortem revealed that the elephant was two-month pregnant. Experts pointed out that this was the elephant's first pregnancy. On Thursday, Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar took to twitter to show his displeasure. "The government has taken a very serious note of the killing of an elephant in Mallapuram, #Kerala. We will not leave any stone unturned to investigate it properly and nab the culprit(s). This is not Indian culture to feed fire crackers and kill," he wrote.

On Wednesday, the Environment Minister sought a report on the death of the elephant and said stern action would be taken against the culprits.