Killer tusker's history being covered up

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Tusker (Venattumattom) Unnikrishnan who has been tied up for the past two days after killing his mahout was trying to cover his bare back with mud on Thursday to escape the sun. However, what is being covered up well by owners and officials is his old age and violent past wherein he killed three persons. As per The Kerala Captive Elephants (Management and Maintenance) rules, an elephant should be retired at 65 but clear folds on Unnikrishnan’s ears shows he is over 70 years.

Similarly, his vaccination register is obscure on the details of how he killed two men at Kottayam and one at Kollam. However, the elephant owner who runs Palai Timbers, Karakkamandapom, swears that the elephant has not killed anyone before.

“He was trying to approach a female elephant who was bathing in Karamana river. The mahout forbade him to do so and he killed him,” said Manikantan, brother of owner Madanamohanan Nair. Unnikrishnan is not his only elephant. The tusker was bought three years ago from a contractor at Pathanamthitta, he said.

“He had once chased away a mahout but never attacked anyone,” Mr Nair claimed adding that mahout Krishnankutty was covered under third party insurance worth Rs 5 lakh. As per sources, it’s a mystery how the elephant who originally hails from Palai ended up in Thiruvananthapuram. “The elephant has a history of violence which now I believe the owner was not aware of. Ideally, elephant Unnikrishan should have been allowed to retire to Kottur,” said a source.

Minutes after the death of the mahout, Deccan Chronicle had spotted local citizens abusing handlers for working the tusker in the timber mill and not providing him enough water.

As per a high court order, the District collector should be informed if the elephant has been employed for carrying timber. However District Collector Biju Prabhakar who is also a member of the State Animal Welfare Board claimed ignorance regarding such a rule.

The owner’s brother, meanwhile, claimed that the elephant was being used only for the temple festival. “Elephants chill during temple festivals and after eating too much they tend to disobey mahouts. That’s what happened here I believe,” he said.

Assistant Conservator of Forest Jayakumar Sharma said that Unnikrishnan would be allowed to do his work only after a veterinarian and forest officials examine him after a cooling period of 15 days. As per officials, there are 48 captive elephants in Thiruvananthapuram district.