#JusticeForVinayaki: SIT to probe pregnant elephant's death amid public outrage; Kerala CM says justice will prevail

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan assured that all concerns raised will not go in vain and justice will prevail and the culprits will be brought to book.

New Delhi: Amid outrage over the tragic demise of a pregnant elephant in Kerala's Palakkad, the district police on Thursday (June 4) constituted a special investigation team under a DSP-rank officer to probe the matter. Zee News has also launched a massive campaign to bring killers of the elephant, named as Vinakayi, to book urging its viewers to support it by tweeting #JusticeForVinayaki.

Zee News Editor-in-chief Sudhir Choudhary also raised the matter in his highly popular show DNA. With the support of Kerala's Janam TV, the Zee News team reached Kerala's Palakkad district and collected some fresh video footage of the incident.

Earlier in the day, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan came out with a statement that three suspects are under the scanner of the teams probing the death of the pregnant elephant. Vijayan assured that all concerns raised will not go in vain and justice will prevail and the culprits will be brought to book.

The 15-year-old elephant was reportedly fed a pineapple filled with firecrackers which exploded in the animal's mouth and later it succumbed to her injuries while standing in Velliyar River.

After a massive outrage from across the country, the Kerala Police officials and the state Forest Department's Crime Investigation Team visited the spot and collected evidence.

According to the update submitted by Palakkad police, the probe is mainly focused on the Mannarkkad area where the cultivation of crops is being done by the people. The postmortem report of the animal has revealed that the wounds were there for two weeks. 

The report said the explosion fractured the bones of the elephant and caused a lot of damage to the mouth and she was not able to take food for days, adding that the elephant died of choking due to water getting filled in her lungs. Many tried to rescue the injured mammoth her but all in vain.

The investigating team said that they still trying to find out the real cause of the tragic incident, but the preliminary report points to the use of explosive-filled pineapple as traps to kill wild animals. 

The focus of the probe is private plantations near the Silent Valley buffer zone and the police is investigating the source of the explosive material.

Expressing shock over the incident, Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar on Wednesday said that it is not in Indian culture to feed firecrackers and kill animals and that the government would not leave any stone unturned to bring the culprit to book.

He also tweeted, "Central Government has taken a very serious note of the killing of an elephant in Mallapuram, #Kerala. We will not leave any stone unturned to investigate properly and nab the culprit(s). This is not an Indian culture to feed firecrackers and kill (sic)." 

BJP MP and former union minister Maneka Gandhi also expressed dismay over the inaction of the state government and stated that Malappuram is known for "its intense criminal activity" specially "with regard to animals." Notably, both the leaders made the mistake of misidentifying the location to be in Mallapuram while the elephant was found dead in Palakkad district.

The Kerala CM, however, alleged that there was an "organised campaign" at the national level against Kerala and Malappuram district.