COIMBATORE: Officials of The Nilgiris forest division arrested two tribals on Saturday in connection with the electrocution of an elephant in Mettukkal tribal settlement under the Kotagiri forest range four years ago. The suspects – M Eswaran (40), S Katturaja (27) and S Nithish Kumar (24) – buried the carcass without informing authorities. Nithish died in a road accident in 2019.
According to sources, the incident was found by the Tamil Nadu forest department officials a week ago based on a tip-off from a tribal and when inquired, the arrested confessed to the crime. “Eswaran had set up illegal fencing to protect his crops from wild boars.
However, unexpectedly a cow elephant had come in contact with the fence and died. Instead of informing the forest department, Eswaran sought help from Katturaja and Nithish Kumar and the trio buried the animal,” sources added. A veterinary assistant surgeon dug up the remains. Also, other officials visited the burial site to investigate the case.