KOZHIKODE: The forest department personnel arrested four persons in connection with the killing of a female elephant near a home in the farmland at Chethalayam Range of the South Wayanad forest division at Pulppalli, here, on Tuesday. Those arrested were Cheruvalli Marap-panmoola Padmanabhan alias Vijayan, 48, Balagopal Areekkode, 49, Areekkode AP Pradeep, 34, and Areekkode AP Mani, 39, all natives of Pulppalli.
The forest team headed by South Wayanad DFO Abdul Aziz and range officer Sajeev Rayiroth arrested the accused after a full day raid on many houses. One country gun, nine bullets, crackers, an autorickshaw and two long knives were seized. The animal was among the herd which was roaming in the area causing damage to agriculture, according to Melekapp Narayanan, a farmer in the locality. Interestingly, this is the second female elephant killed in Wayanad in the last two months.
Another female elephant was killed at ‘4th Mile’ near the office of the Wayanad wildlife warden on May 30. Forest department is groping in the dark about the culprits in the killing. South Wayanad DFO Abdul Aziz said that the incident was believed to be a deliberate one. “Three bullets were recovered from the head of the 12-year-old animal during post-mortem,” he added.
