The death of an elephant in a stream in the Mannarkkad forest range in Palakkad district appears to evolve as a case of man-animal conflict.
The Forest Department on Friday arrested one person in connection with the incident. Two others were questioned in this regard.
Forest officers said Wilson, a plantation tapping worker, had admitted to placing an explosives-laden trap. He reportedly admitted that he stuffed the explosive in a coconut and set the bait for a wild boar. The elephant was believed to have chomped the coconut and sustained a wound in its mouth when the explosive went off.
Search on for others
Forest officers said Wilson had experience in hunting wild boars using explosive traps. They said they were searching for a few others in connection with the case. The elephant died in the Velliyar stream at Ambalappara, near the Thiruvizhamkunnu forest station, on May 27 after having sustained wounds in its mouth.
Wildlife Crime Control Bureau regional deputy director T. Uma reached Mannarkkad from Chennai on Friday and questioned the accused as part of her parallel investigations for the Union government.
The post-mortem examination revealed that the elephant was pregnant and that its jaw bone was broken. The wound was two weeks old. The elephant had starved for over a week after it sustained the injury. The attempts of the forest guards to drive the elephant back to the Silent Valley National Park, from which it strayed into the human habitat in the forest fringes, had failed as it stood firmly in the stream for over two days.
The attempts to rescue the elephant with the help of two ‘kumki’ elephants failed. The elephant succumbed to its injuries at the stream itself.
Scathing criticism
When the incident came to light five days later, there was criticism from all around over the killing of the animal. A section of the media wrongly ascribed the incident to Malappuram district, where Muslims are in majority. BJP leaders, including animal rights activist Maneka Gandhi, blamed Malappuram and its people for the death of the elephant.
Several north Indian celebrities, including cricketers and film stars, too joined the bandwagon.
