Kerala elephant's death: Pinarayi Vijayan promises to address increased human-wildlife conflict, says probe focused on three accused

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday assured that stringent action will be taken against those who are found guilty for the death of a pregnant elephant in Kerala’s Palakkad district.

People have expressed anger and grief after the visuals of the elephant, dead in Velliyar river, was shared by forest officials last week.

The Chief Minister said that “justice will prevail” and that concerns of people will not go in vain.

Vijayan said that investigation is underway, focusing on three suspects. “The police and forest departments will jointly investigate the incident. The district police chief and the district forest officer visited the site today. We will do everything possible to bring the culprits to justice,” he added .

The CM said that Kerala respects the outrage against injustice. “If there is any silver lining in this, it is that we now know that we can make our voices heard against injustice. Let us be that people who fight injustice in all its forms; everytime, everywhere,” he adde d.

He also assured that his government will look into the rise in number of incidences of “human-wildlife conflict.”

Earlier in the day, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said the central government has taken a “very serious note” of the incident.

“We will not leave any stone unturned to investigate properly and nab the culprit(s). This is not an Indian culture to feed fire crackers and kill,” Javadekar tweeted .

The pregnant elephant suffered an injury in her lower jaw after she ate a pineapple stuffed with crackers which exploded in her mouth on 27 May. She later died, while standing in the river Velliyar.