Protest in Idukki after operation to capture rogue elephant stayed by Kerala HC
The high court of Kerala stayed “Operation Arikomban” after the People for Animals and Walking Eye Foundation for Animal Advocacy approached the court saying the move to capture the elephant and make it Kumki through rigorous training was “unscientific and cruel.”
The Kerala high court in a special hearing on Thursday stayed the forest department’s plan till March 29 to tranquillise a wild tusker nicknamed Arikomban which razed many houses and shops and destroyed crops in the region in the past 16 months, leading to protests in Munnar and Chinnakanal in Idukki.

Farmers’ outfits and political parties threatened to block roads if the mission was called off. Some local political parties announced protest rallies on Sunday against the high court’s stay order.
“We are shocked that the operation was stayed till Wednesday (March 29). Arikomban took several lives. It razed many houses and shops and destroyed crops for more than two years. Sadly, the operation was called off at the eleventh hour. Human beings should not suffer at the cost of animal love,” said Kerala Independent Farmers’ Association.
“We thought by Sunday Arikomban’s threat will be over forever. We have no idea how long we have to spend sleepless nights,” said P Sebastian, a resident of Chinnakanal.
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The high court of Kerala stayed “Operation Arikomban” after the People for Animals and Walking Eye Foundation for Animal Advocacy approached the court saying the move to capture the elephant and make it Kumki through rigorous training was “unscientific and cruel.”
They said human intervention in the wild and lack of food and water caused by encroachment of forest boundaries were the main reasons for elephant incursions and netting or capturing it was not a permanent solution.
They said the destructive and unscientific method of capturing and relocating the animal in artificial habitat was against wildlife laws.
They said in Wayanad and Palakkad two elephants, named Dhoni and PT-7, were captured in the last six months and they were undergoing “cruel and inhuman” training to become Kumki elephants and this should not be encouraged.
After hearing the petitioners, a division bench of chief justice S Manikumar and justice Murali Purushothaman ordered the forest department not to tranquillise and capture the elephant till March 29 but permitted the forest officials to track the movement of rogue jumbo near human settlements.
On Sunday, the forest department said that they would use four Kumkis (trained elephants) they brought from Wayanad to capture Arikomban.
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The forest department had made elaborate arrangements to capture the animal which turned into a nightmare for residents. It brought four trained elephants from Wayanad, set up a dummy ration shop and built a sturdy cage to trap the animal. State forest minister A K Saseendran and top forest officials also camped in the district to oversee the operation expected to take place on Sunday, however, it was stayed till Wednesday after the intervention of the high court.
Since the animal was fond of rice (in Malayalam ari) it was nicknamed Arikomban. It used to raid ration shops regularly for rice. According to local residents in Munnar and Chinnakanal, the rogue elephant has attacked more than 60 houses and shops and trampled eight people to death in the past 16 months.