IDUKKI: At long last, the stage is set for Mission Arikomban, the forest department’s drive to tranquilise and capture rogue tusker Arikomban which has been terrorising residents of Idukki’s Chinnakkanal and Santhanpara panchayats for the past two decades. A 26-member team of the department led by Chief Veterinary Officer Arun Zachariah will execute the mission on Friday morning.
As many as 150 personnel from the police, fire and rescue services, health and motor vehicles departments, as well as the KSEB, among others, will assist the forest department’s team. Four kumki elephants, brought from Wayanad in March, will also aid in the capture of the 30-year-old jumbo.
Since the High Court approved the government’s request not to make public the location where the tusker will be shifted, the forest department is keeping it a secret. However, it is learnt that Periyar Tiger Reserve in Kumily and Agasthyarkoodam are top on the list of probable locations.
Starting time 4.30am
As per the plan, a tracking team will go after the tusker around 4.30am on Friday, followed by Zachariah-led darting team. Once the tracking team finds the tusker, Zachariah and his colleagues will shoot it with a tranquiliser dart. Forest officials said the first dart will be fired at 6am. However, they said they will not wait for an opportune moment to dart the tusker. “Most probably, we will go for surprise darting. We cannot dart the elephant by chasing it,” said an official.
Once the jumbo is tranquilised, kumkis will be used to push the tusker onto a lorry. All arrangements, including controlling the traffic along the route through which the jumbo will be transported, will be made under the leadership of police and MVD officials.