The Kerala police have arrested one person identified as P Wilson in connection with the death of a pregnant wild elephant in Kerala, reports Hindustan Times. According to the report, Kerala forest minister K Raju said that P Wilson, who is an employee of an estate that cultivates cash crops and spices, was arrested on Friday.
Palakkad Superintendent of Police G Siva Vikram reportedly said the accused was one of the three persons who was taken into custody for interrogation on Thursday. The SP also said that more arrests in the case will be made on Friday.
The accused reportedly said to the interrogators that they had set up a trap of fruit filled with crackers to scare wild boars, which destroy their farms often.
The Forest Department has identified three people suspected to be involved in the case, however, let off two persons after interrogation. The Forest Department has filed an FIR in the case and another FIR was registered in the case by the Mannarkkad police in Palakkad against unknown persons on June 6.
The 15-year-old Elephant had died due to sever injuries in mouth
The one-month pregnant elephant died in Palakkad on May 27, days after it injured its jaws due to explosives packed in a pineapple that it had eaten. The incident had come to light on May 27 when Mohan Krishnan, a forest officer, wrote a Facebook post after witnessing the death.
The elephant rushed to nearby Velliyar river after eating the cracker-filled fruit and died at the spot even as forest officials tried to rescue it. Reportedly, some locals saw the female elephant on 25 May when she came to their village and she died on May 27 after standing in water for the whole day.
The autopsy report of the dead elephant had revealed that the crackers stuffed in the pineapple which was fed to the elephant burst in her mouth leading to severe injuries. The elephant was not able to eat anything due to the deep wounds for almost two weeks, due to which she fell and drowned due to weakness.
The post-mortem report had revealed that the animal died as a result of drowning, followed by inhalation of water which led to lung failure. This has been identified as the immediate cause of the death of the elephant.
The killing of the 15-year-old elephant had triggered a massive outrage across the country as Bollywood actors, business icons and sports persons took to social media to condemn the action.
