COIMBATORE: Forest department officials on Monday arrested three persons in connection with the death of a male elephant in Chinna Coonoor in The Nilgiris. A senior forest official said that the trio, without informing the forest department, buried the animal in private land in Sigur reserve forest after it died of electrocution after coming in direct contact with a live electricity cable illegally installed in the Patta land.
Ruling out the poaching angle, the official said both the tusks of the 20-year-old elephant, which came in search of food and water, were intact. According to sources, the arrested persons are S Vigneshvaren (40), SK Gopalakrishnan (20), and G Ajit Kumar, and all of them are residents of Chinna Coonoor. The incident came to light during a routine check carried out by the department staff.
“The trio had taken the land, sprawling two acres, on lease for cultivating potatoes. They illegally powered the fence by drawing electricity from their house located on the land,” the official said, adding that the incident might have happened two days ago as the carcass is fresh.
A postmortem would be conducted on Tuesday, the official said.Meanwhile, Sirumugai forest range officials in Coimbatore forest division imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 each on three persons for allegedly attempting to poach Indian hare. The trio is aged between 16 and 20 years.
Elephant electrocuted from illegal fence
The trio, without informing the forest department, buried the animal in private land in Sigur reserve forest after it died of electrocution after coming in direct contact with a live electricity cable illegally installed in the Patta land, a senior forest official said.