KOCHI: In a setback for Malayalam rapper Hirandas Murali, popularly known as Vedan, a lab test has confirmed that the leopard tooth on his pendant – seized after his arrest last year – is genuine. The Forest Department has initiated steps to prepare a fresh chargesheet against Vedan for illegal possession of wildlife trophy following the confirmation after a test conducted at the Zoological Lab of the Forest Survey of India in Kolkata. The new chargesheet may lead to the arrest of the rapper.
Vedan was arrested by the Forest Department for possession of leopard tooth in 2025. He pleaded innocence before the court during the hearing on his bail application and said the pendant was gifted to him by Ranjith, a Sri Lankan citizen, in 2022 during a show in Chennai.
As the department could not prove the genuineness of the leopard tooth back then, the court had granted bail to the rapper.