KOZHIKODE: The director of Project Elephant and inspector general of forests under Union ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) has sought a report from state chief wildlife warden regarding the killing of a wild elephant inside WayanadWildlife Sanctuary (WWS) on Monday.
Director of Project Elephant, R K Srivastava sought the report on the basis of a complaint lodged by Thrissur-based Heritage Animal Task Force (HATF) which alleged that rivalry between forest officials and politicians with links with forest mafia had led to the death of the jumbo.
The carcass of the female elephant, aged between 15- 20, with a bullet wound in its head was found at Nalammile on the side of Sultan Bathery- Pulpally Road that cuts through Kurichiad range of the sanctuary at 5.45am on Monday.
V K Venkitachalam, secretary of HATF, said in the complaint that some politicians had tried to transfer one of the efficient senior forest officer from Wayanad on May 19, the day of counting of ballots of Assembly election.
He said in the complaint that a prominent leader of UDF had publically threatened the same officer two years ago that he will be transferred overnight.
"Also the Kerala State Wildlife Board, under the chairmanship of Chief Minister, has not met in past eight months. This has adversely affected the vigil against forest mafia," the complaint said.
Meanwhile, forest and police departments have intensified the search for those who killed the elephant. "The district police chief has directed the cyber cell to collect call data recorded in the area. We are also collecting details of vehicles that had passed through the area on the day of the incident. Also as many as 42 trainees from Kerala Forest School, Walayar have been deputed at WWS so that we can press in all available resources for the probe," a senior forest official said.
