DHARMAPURI: The wife of a suspect who was arrested on Monday for allegedly poaching an elephant has complained to the district collector and Superintendent of Police that her husband has been falsely implicated by the forest department and that his life was in danger.
The forest department officials, however, stated that the suspect had escaped from their custody when they took him inside the forest to gather evidence.
Earlier this month, the mutilated and charred carcass of an elephant was found in the Neruppur forest range near Pennagaram. Three suspects were arrested in for poaching.
On Wednesday, M Chitra of Kongarapatti village, the wife of suspect G Senthil (30) filed a petition with the Collector and SP sought permission to see him.
According to Chitra, on Monday, Senthil, who was a mason, was working in Chengapadi village. Around 11:30 am, forest staff called him over the phone and said there was an issue regarding the boundary of his land and forest land and asked him to come to the Pennagaram Forest Ranger office.
Senthil, along with V Govindharaj, and G Sakthi went there, However, they were accused of killing a wild elephant and arrested. “When family members went to visit them, we were denied permission. Their location remains unknown. So I have filed a petition and a collector to ensure the safety of my family,” she told TNIE.
District Forest Officer K Rajangam told TNIE, “On Monday night, we arrested Senthil and asked him to take us into the forest to unearth the weapons and equipment they had hidden. He was in handcuffs and protected by a guard. However taking advantage of the night, he pushed the guard and ran inside the forest. We were unable to chase and secure him. Five teams are working on capturing Senthil and others involved in the case.”
On Tuesday, three people S Vijaykumar (23) and V Govidharaj from Kongarapatti village along with R Dinesh from Govindapadi village were arrested by the Special Investigation Team. Two tusks, country made guns and some tools were recovered from them.