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Elephant carcass exhumed from private estate in Kerala, 4 held
Forest officials who noticed that half a tusker was missing while exhuming the carcass of an elephant a private estate in Kerala, alerted the concerned department suspecting ivory-trade case. The half tusker was later recovered and the accused are being questioned
KOCHI: Forest officials in Kerala exhumed the carcass of a wild male elephant from a private rubber estate based on a tip-off in Thrissur district’s Vazhakkode in a suspected case connected to ivory trade on Friday
When forest officials in Machad range excavated the remains of the male elephant from an estate belonging to Maniyanchira Roy, they discovered that half of one of its tusks was missing. Suspecting the involvement of ivory hunters, a message was passed to all forest ranges in the state about recent tusk-related arrests. Later officials of the Kodanad range in neighbouring Ernakulam district confirmed that they retrieved half a tusk from four persons in Pattimattam on July 1 during a transaction.
“When we questioned Akhil Mohan, the first accused, he admitted that it was the same tusk belonging to the elephant buried in the estate in Thrissur. Akhil, along with the second accused, was trying to sell the ivory while two other accused were buying it when we apprehended them at a house in Pattimattam based on information. The tusk was also retrieved,” said Geo Basil Paul, the Kodanad range officer.
Akhil, an accomplice of Roy, was the one who chopped off half the tusk of the elephant while burying it, confirmed Paul. While Akhil is in custody for questioning, the three others are in remand.
A senior forest official said the wild elephant, around 15 years old, is suspected to have died when it came into contact with an electric fence. The accused, including Roy, may have set up a trap meant for wild boars, but instead the elephant was killed. Postmortem report and further investigations will prove the cause of death, she said. The rubber estate owned by Roy adjoins a forest through which wild elephants move regularly.
“We have received some clues that strengthen the fact that the elephant was killed,” Forest Minister AK Saseendran told reporters.
The Kodanad officer said that Roy is currently absconding and is suspected to have fled to Goa, where his wife works as a teacher. A team of the forest department will leave for Goa to apprehend him.
