Idukki(Kerala), Apr 3 (PTI) A high court appointed expert committee, tasked with deciding the fate — captivity or relocation — of rice eating tusker ‘Arikkomban,’ on Monday visited the affected areas of this high range district and interacted with the residents.
A senior forest official said the five-member panel arrived in the district and interacted with the locals.
The panel’s visit comes in the wake of widespread protests in several gram panchayats, including Santhapara and Chinnakanal, bordering the famous hill station of Munnar.
Protesters had on several occasions contended that decisions regarding whether to capture and keep the elephant in captivity were being taken by people sitting in air conditioned offices without finding out the situation on the ground.
The Kerala High Court on March 29 had constituted the five-member committee to take a decision by April 5 on whether to capture the wild bull elephant and turn it into a captive tusker or relocate it to interior areas of the forest.
The court had expressed its reservations regarding capture and captivity of Arikkomban — a moniker earned due to his habit of breaking into homes and ration shops for consuming rice — in view of the various instances of cruelty to captive elephants in Kerala and also the deplorable conditions in which they are held captive in various locations across the State.
On March 23, in a late night sitting, the court had stayed the state government’s decision to tranquilise and capture the tusker on March 26.
The court’s order had come on a PIL by two animal rights groups — People for Animals (PFA), Trivandum Chapter and the Walking Eye Foundation for Animal Advocacy. PTI HMP ROH
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