Boasting about trading 200 elephants in a YouTube video has landed a self-styled elephant trader of Kollam in trouble with the Forest Department booking cases against him for illegal transport and sale of elephants and taking his 15 elephants into custody.
Five cases were booked against V. Shaji of Kaveri Puthenkulam, Kollam; K.S. Rashmi, Kollam; Shinu of Mavelikkara; Manish Nath, Kollam; and a few others for illegally trading 15 captive elephants. The accused were booked for illegally transporting the elephants from other States, keeping the animals without valid documents and trading them. The relevant sections of the Wildlife Protection Act and the Captive Elephant Management Rules were invoked against them, the officials said.
The department swung into action last month after the video, Puthenkulam Kaveri Park, in which Mr. Shaji stated that he had brought nearly 200 elephants from Assam, Bihar and Andaman and traded them in Kerala, went viral. He claimed to have purchased the elephants, Modi, Lakshmi, Anadapadmanabhan and Rao among others and brought them to the park. The preliminary verification of documents indicated that the elephants, which were in the names of others, were in the custody of Mr. Shaji, said officials.
A special team with over 100 men was formed and searches were carried out in Kollam, Pathanamthitta and Mavelikara. The key accused could not be arrested as he went into hiding. Even though the team had plans to take the possession of the animals, the idea was later dropped and the elephants were left with its keepers after recording its custody.
In another incident, two cases were booked against A.V. Prasanth of Manikandeswaram, Peroorkada, for the illegal trade of elephants. He was arraigned as the first accused in both the First Information Reports filed by the Forest Department at the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court 1, Nedumangad.
In the first case, Mr. Prasanth has been made the accused for illegally bringing an elephant from Uttar Pradesh in violation of the provisions of the Act and Rule and forging documents. In the second case, besides Mr. Prasanth, Bency Shaji, Praveen and Sreejith have been arraigned as the accused. The case is that Ms. Shaji sold the elephant to Mr. Praveen. The animal was then sold to Mr. Sreejith from whom Mr. Prasanth bought it.
