Elephant Dies in TN After Being Set Ablaze, Three Held
A 40-year-old elephant succumbed to injuries two weeks after people of a TN village attached it.
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Tamil Nadu forest officials have arrested three persons on Saturday, 23 January, for critically injuring an elephant which had strayed into Masinagudi village in the Nilgiris.
The 40-year-old elephant had strayed from the Mudumalai tiger reserve zone and entered the populated village in the first week of January.
Two days after the elephant’s death, verified visuals of the incident have emerged on social media, where a group of people are seen attacking the animal with a flaming branch. At one point, the branch is thrown at the animal and its ear seemed to catch fire.
Though TN forest officials tried to tend to the injured animal, it succumbed to injuries as it was being taken to Theppakkadu medical camp. According to The News Minute, a back injury found on the animal was months old.
The News Minute reported that the Deputy Director of the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve have arrested three people – Prasath (36, Raymond Dean (28) and Ricky Ryan (31) – in connection with the incident. The accused run a hotel in Nilgiris.
The news about the elephant’s death made headlines when a video of a forest protection officer petting the dead animal went viral last week. In the video, the officer was heard crying and lamenting while caressing the trunk of the lifeless elephant.
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