THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The forest department registered a case against Vellanad panchayat president Vellanad Sasi for allegedly beating a porcupine to death on Saturday morning. Visuals of the incident which took place near a house in the Valiyara area of the panchayat have surfaced. The accused is reportedly absconding.
According to local sources, the porcupine was spotted in a residential compound in Valiyara on Saturday morning. The matter was first reported to a ward member.
As residents did not have the contact number of the Forest Department, they informed the panchayat president. Sasi then reached the spot and allegedly killed the animal by beating it, said residents.
They alleged that Sasi said there was no need to call the forest department and that he would handle the matter himself. Later, the porcupine was found dead, following which the residents informed forest officials.
When forest officials reached the panchayat office to arrest Sasi, he was not present. They also went to a programme scheduled at Vellanad school, which Sasi was expected to attend, but he did not turn up there either, according to sources. Officials said further steps would be taken to trace and arrest him.
Involved in controversies
The CPM leader and panchayat president has been involved in controversies earlier as well. Recently, he and some women ward members allegedly locked the panchayat secretary inside a room following a dispute over the use of a panchayat vehicle. In September 2024, Sasi was arrested in Pathanamthitta in a case related to trespassing into a shop and allegedly assaulting women and children.
The police had booked him under non-bailable sections. The dispute was reportedly linked to the removal of a shop board from the roadside.
Earlier in 2021, Sasi was arrested in a case related to vandalising the foundation stone of a health sub-centre, allegedly in protest against not being invited to its inauguration. In the same year, he had cut out his own photograph from flex boards installed in front of the panchayat office and at Vellanad junction, claiming that his consent had not been sought before using the image.