PALAKKAD: The forest department will move an application in the Mannarkad court on Monday for custody of second accused Riyazudheen (Manu), 38, in connection with the death of a pregnant wild elephant at Ambalapara in Thiruvazhamkunnu after a fruit stuffed with crackers burst in its mouth.
Riyazudheen had surrendered before the Munsiff Magistrate Court in Mannarkad on Saturday nearly one-and-a half years after the incident. His father Abdul Kareem, who is the first accused, in the case is still at large.
Mannarkad DFO M K Surjith told TNIE that the department expects Riyazudheen to give crucial leads on who exactly had kept the crackers and the location during his questioning. The incident occurred on May 27, 2020, when the explosives stuffed inside the fruit went off in the elephant’s mouth after it chewed the fruit. The police suspect that the culprits had kept the fruit as a trap to kill wild boars.
The elephant which stood in the nearby Veliyar river and adjacent compound in Ambalapara writhing in pain died a few days later. Riyazudheen was remanded to judicial custody till October 30. The case registered by the police is for illegally possessing explosives and misusing them. The forest department case is for causing the death of a wild animal under the Wild Life (Protection) Act.