THENI: Shepherd Alex Pandian, a manager of a farm owned by MP Ravindranath Kumar, alleged that he was forced by three forest officials to confess over the killing of a leopard on the farm. He was released on bail after 65 days.
The leopard was stuck in the fence around the farm owned by Theni MP Ravindranath Kumar near Thenkarai area in Periyakulam and was found dead in the forest later. Forest officials had earlier arrested the managers of the estate Thangavel, Rajavel, and Shepherd Alex Pandian.
On Thursday, Shepherd Alex Pandian lodged a complaint with Thenkarai police station stating three forest officials--Mahendran, Senthilkumar and Anand Prabhu-- threatened him to admit the crime of killing a leopard. The complaint said if he failed to do so, the officials would shoot him to death.
Tamil Nadu Cattle Farmers and Breeders Association urged the state government to transfer the case to the CB-CID. Further, they lodged complaints with the state Human Rights Commission.