Kerala Forest Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishanan on Wednesday said that the aid of a central agency will be sought for further investigation in the elephant poaching case.
The Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, which investigates cases related to Forest Department, will be approached since links of sources outside the State are also suspected to be involved in the case, the minister told the Kerala Assembly.
The government had already begun the move to transfer the case from Forest Department to some other agency after the death of Ikkaramattom Vasu, the prime accused in the elephant hunting case.
Vasu was found dead in mysterious circumstances in a pineapple grove in Sindhudurg, Maharashtra. The police had recovered a suicide note near the body of Vasu, which said that he was ‘departing because of the Forest case’ and that his sister, brother-in-law are and the child were innocent.
The Forest officials had learned that it was Vasu who used to hunt down the elephants. The investigating team had also found that around 20 pachyderms were killed for tusks.
The police had launched a manhunt for Vasu after the arrest of Kunjumon who was a former member of the poachers’ gang.