PALAKKAD: One person has been arrested on Friday in connection with the death of a pregnant wild female elephant at Ambalapara in Thiruvazhamkunnu on the Palakkad –Malappuram border.
Police sources said that the farmer was a native of Areekode in Malappuram district and had settled in Ambalapara for the last four years.
The police said that the arrest would be recorded within an hour. The name of the farmer, which is yet to be confirmed officially, is Wilson, who has taken the land on lease and was engaged in farming activities.
The injured pregnant wild elephant was seen in the Amabalapara area from May 23 onwards. The death was attributed to having eaten a fruit stuffed with explosives from the area. It was injured at least 10 days before it was seen in the area. The tongue, upper jaw and the lower jaw was completely torn off and worms had begun to infest it. It was standing in the nearby Veliyar stream to relieve it of the pain.
The elephant had not eaten for the past two weeks which finally led it to collapse in the Veliyar stream on May 27 when two kumki elephants were engaged to drive it back into the forests and offer treatment.
The death of the female wild elephant had created a national uproar in social media due to the cruelty meted out by humans to a dumb animal.