Leopard death case: Theni MP skips summons

THENI: Not heeding the summons issued to him, Theni MP P Ravindranath Kumar failed to appear before the forest department officials for an inquiry regarding the leopard death case. Instead, advocates on his behalf met Assistant Forest Officer Sharmili on Tuesday and submitted a letter stating that the MP had left for New Delhi to attend the 7th Indian Drinking Water Week celebrations.

The forest department had earlier issued summons to Ravindranath Kumar, Thiyagarajan and Kaleeswaran, to appear before it this week for inquiries regarding the death of a two-year-old male leopard on farmland owned by them at Periyakulam. Thiyagarajan and Kaleeswaran appeared before the officials and claimed that they had sold the land to the MP. 

In the letter submitted to the Assistant Forest Officer, Ravindranath Kumar’s advocates stated that the MP was in no way related to the incident and urged the authorities to absolve him from the case.