Teams with tranquiliser guns, kumki elephant deployed to spot tiger that killed Malappuram man

Malappuram(Kerala) | Three teams of forest personnel equipped with tranquiliser guns and a kumki elephant were deployed on Friday to spot and capture the tiger which has killed a rubber-tapping worker near Kalikavu, an official said.

Camera traps and cages were also set up to assist the teams in the mission. Another kumki elephant will be brought into the operation, he added.

Divisional Forest Officer, Nilambur South, Dhanik Lal said that each group of the search team comprises 20 forest personnel and a veterinarian.

"We will first confirm if the tiger is present in the area. Further steps will be taken thereafter. Two cages and camera traps have been set up. The search operations commenced at 7 am," the official said.

He said that another kumki elephant (trained captive tuskers) will be brought to the area to assist in the search operations.

Another senior forest official said that thermal drone cameras will also be deployed to look for the tiger.

On Thursday, 45-year-old Gafoor was attacked and dragged into the forest by the tiger when he and a friend were going for rubber-tapping work.

Gafoor's badly mauled body was later found around 200 meters inside the forest, according to his friend and forest officials.

The incident had sparked a protest in the area. Protesters initially prevented the body from being removed till certain assurances were given by the authorities regarding compensation and a job to the victim's family and capture of the tiger.

They had also alleged lapses on the part of the forest department, claiming that no action was taken by it despite being informed about the presence of the tiger in the area for the past few months.

Similar allegations were also made by Congress MLA A P Anilkumar after visiting the area.

Subsequently, the forest officials informed that an enhanced compensation of Rs 14 lakh would be provided to the family along with a job and said that steps were being taken to tranquilise and capture the tiger.

Convinced by the assurances, protesters allowed the victim's body to be removed from the area.

Later that same day, State Forest Minister A K Saseendran said that the Chief Conservator of Forests (CCF) has been directed to investigate whether there were any lapses on the part of forest officials as claimed by the locals.