Kerala Elephant Death: Kerala CM assures justice; says investigation is underway

Aggrieved by the news of the horrific killing of a pregnant elephant in Kerala, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan assured that justice will prevail. The elephant ate a pineapple laced with firecrackers which burst in its jaws ultimately killing the pachyderm. 

Taking to Twitter, Vijayan stated that an investigation is underway, focusing on three suspects. The police and forest departments will jointly investigate the incident. The district police chief and the district forest officer visited the site today. He added that the government will also try to address the causes behind the increased incidences of Human-wildlife conflict. 

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Earlier in the day, Union Minister of Environment Forest and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar has called act cruel, amid much more. He said the government has taken action to solve the animal-human conflicts, however, "this kind of killing is absolutely unacceptable". He said he has already deployed senior officers in the region to nab the culprits and bring them to task.

The forest minister also took to Twitter to assure that the Central government has taken note of the killing and will take all the steps possible to catch the perpetrators of the heinous crime.  

READ: Absolutely unacceptable: Forest min Javadekar assures action in pregnant elephant's murder

The pregnant elephant died in Silent Valley Forest in Malappuram after a local allegedly fed her a pineapple stuffed with crackers. This inhuman act took place on May 27. The post- mortem revealed that the pachyderm was pregnant. Her jaw was broken and she was unable to eat after she chewed the pineapple and it exploded in her mouth. On Wednesday, the Mannarkkad forest range officer said that an FIR has been lodged against unidentified people under relevant sections of the Wild Life Protection Act over the incident. 

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