Kerala Elephant Death: One Arrested, Two Estate Owners Absconding

As per the latest update, Karim and Riyaz, the owners of the estate have been booked and are absconding presently.

As the news of a pregnant elephant’s death continues to draw the ire of many across the country, a report on the death of another elephant in the state, purportedly under similar circumstances, has surfaced.

(Photo Courtesy: Facebook/ Mohan Krishnan)

One person, identified as Wilson, was arrested on Friday, 5 June, in connection with the death of a pregnant elephant in Kerala.

Further, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) and Chief Wildlife Warden, Surendrakumar told The Quint that Karim and Riyaz, the owners of the estate have also been booked in the case and are now absconding.

As per the initial information made available to The Quint at 5:30 pm, Palakkad SP G Siva Vikram had said that other than Wilson, no individual was arrested or detained. Responding to the social media posts about the arrest of two individuals - Mohammad Amzath Ali and Thamim Shaikh - Vikram had called it “fake news”.

SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS ABOUT THE ARREST OF 2 MUSLIM MEN

Amar Prasad Reddy, the media advisor to Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare had shared that Azmath Ali and Thamim Shaikh, have been arrested for killing the elephant. However, the tweet was later taken down.

(Source: Twitter/Screenshot)

Among others who shared the information are Supreme Court advocate Prashant Patel and TV Anchor Deepak Chaurasia.

An archived version of the Tweet can be accessed here.(Source: Twitter/Screenshot)

An archived version of the Tweet can be accessed here.(Source: Twitter/Screenshot)

However, The Quint can confirm that the two aforementioned people have not been arrested in relation to the case.

There has been a lot of misinformation on the internet regarding this incident.

MISLEADING CLAIMS USED TO TARGET MALAPPURAM

Even though much of the outrage against the incident was centred around animal cruelty, many people tried to give this a communal spin by falsely claiming that the incident took place in Malappuram district of Kerala when it had actually happened in Palakkad. It is noteworthy that Malappuram is the only Muslim majority district in the state.

Among those who fell for the claim were Union Minister Prakash Javadekar and BJP MP Maneka Gandhi.

You can read the full story here.

600 ELEPHANTS KILLED IN KERALA YEARLY

In addition to her false claim, that the incident took place in Malappuram, BJP MP Maneka also stated that ‘600 elephants are killed in Kerala every year,’ a claim which falls flat given the data provided by the government over the years.

Kerala police have now filed an FIR against BJP MP and animal activist Maneka Gandhi for her provocative statements.

You can read the full story here.

(Update: The initial information provided by the Palakkad police as of 5:30 pm did not mention that two people named Karim and Riyaz, the owners of the estate, have also been booked in the case and are absconding presently. The story has been updated to reflect the same.)