Maneka Gandhi tears into Kerala govt over elephant's death, says no action taken despite frequent incidents
Jun 03, 2020
New Delhi [India], June 3 : After a pregnant elephant died of eating cracker stuffed pineapple allegedly fed to her by a local in Kerala's Mallapuram, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and animal rights activist Maneka Gandhi slammed the State government for not taking animal cruelty seriously.
The former union minister wrote on micro-blogging site that Mallapuram is "known for its intense animal activity" and yet authorities did not taken any action to curb the menace.
"Mallapuram is known for its intense criminal activity especially with regards to animals. No action has ever been taken against a single poacher or wildlife killer so they keep doing it. I can only suggest that you call/email and ask for action," she tweeted.
She also attached a document along with her tweet claiming that "About 600 elephants are killed by the temples by breaking their legs, beating and starving them and otherwise by private owners by insuring them and then deliberately drowning them or giving them gangrene by putting rusted nails on them. I talk to the department almost every week about an elephant and they do absolutely nothing."
Maneka Gandhi further posted telephone numbers of the state forest minister as well as other officials urging people to reach out to them.
The elephant had died on May 27 after she ate the pineapple stuffed with crackers and forest officials said that it died standing in river Velliyar after it suffered an injury in its lower jaw. The elephant was seen standing in the river with her mouth and trunk in the water, for some relief from the pain after the fruit exploded in her mouth.
Meanwhile on Wednesday, Mannarkkad forest range officer said that an FIR has been lodged against unidentified people under relevant sections of Wild Life Protection Act over incident.
