Tamil Nadu: Two arrested for throwing burning cloth on elephant, causing its death

The Tamil Nadu forest department has arrested two people for causing grievous injury to a 40-year-old elephant near Masinagudi in Nilgiris district. The elephant died of its injuries later.

According to officials, the accused had hurled a burning cloth on the elephant, which was roaming near their resort. A video of the incident sent shockwaves across social media, with netizens demanding severe punishment for the culprits.

A few days ago, the elephant was spotted groaning in pain near the Singara forest range. Locals at Bokkapuram alerted forest officials, who reached the spot and tranquilised the animal for treatment. The officials spotted several wounds on the animal’s back.

Tamil Nadu forest department arrested two people, Prasath and Raymond Dean, for causing grievous injury to the 40-year-old elephant.

For providing better treatment, the officers decided to shift the tusker to an elephant camp. With the help of four other Kumki elephants – Vasan, Vijay, Giri, and Krishna – the injured animal was put on a truck. However, the elephant died on the way, near Theppakadu.

A couple of days ago, a video of a forest guard bidding a tearful goodbye to the elephant went viral on social media. In the moving clip, the forester (Pollan) can be seen crying and gently stroking the elephant’s trunk and saying, “Whom will I give (fruits) to hereafter?” Two months back, the elephant was treated by forest officials for other injuries that it had suffered.

The post-mortem examination revealed that the tusker had sustained deep wounds on its back. The doctors, who conducted the post-mortem, noticed a gash on its left ear and said the death could have come from unbearable pain.

Speaking to indianexpress.com, LCS Srikanth, director, Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (Buffer Zone), said, “Three people were found to have been involved in this incident. We have arrested two, including the owner of a resort; and are on the lookout for the third person. As per the information we have, the incident took place on January 3, around midnight. One of the accused was under the influence of alcohol. The two accused were arrested under section 9 of the Wildlife Protection Act.”

Nilgiris district collector J Innocent Divya said orders have been passed to seal the building in Mavanallah where the elephant was injured. Divya said the owners of the property were running a homestay in the upper floor of the building with four rooms, which will be sealed.