DFO to book tipsy jumbo’s owner
The Thrissur divisional forest officer (DFO) Sasi Kumar has instructed the Pattikkad range office to probe into the confession of NRI tycoon Sundar Menon, owner of Thiruvambadi Sivasundar, that he had often given the elephant brandy to drink.
DC exposed this on August 18, and Menon’s confession was carried in The New York Times, which took up the story. According to Kumar, such an act is completely illegal and if proven, Menon can be booked for violating the rules. On June 22, Menon was accused of putting the elephant on display without permission during a jewellery inauguration function. That case is still pending.
The demand for action against Menon was raised by the elephant welfare activist V.K. Venkitachalam, who had approached the DFO on Tuesday after reading the DC report.
Venkitachalam said Menon has violated the Kerala Captive Elephants (management and maintenance) Rules, 2003. He also claimed that Sivasundar was being fed with buckets of brandy for a long time and the animal’s health had deteriorated as a result. Despite undergoing two major surgeries, Sivasundar is still being used for demonstrations, Venkitachalam alleged.
Menon is the chairman of Sun Group International, a fuel supplier in Qatar and the U.A.E. Shivasundar was born in the wild and captured as a calf. Menon bought him for `30 lakh in 2002.
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