A rogue tusker, locally called ‘Arikompan’, that regularly raids ration shops and eats provisions attacked a ration shop at Anayirangal, near Munnar, in the early hours of Friday.
According to local residents, the tusker reached a layam (cluster homes) at Anayirangal around 1 a.m. on Friday and ransacked the kitchen of Guruswami, a resident. The family ran out of the house to escape from the elephant.
The tusker then attacked a ration shop owned by C.M. Ameer. The local residents and the Rapid Response Team (RRT) that reached the spot chased the tusker from the human-inhabited area.
Mr. Ameer said that the tusker ate two sacks of wheat and 25 packets of wheat powder. “In the past six months, the tusker attacked the shop over five times. A high-level meeting called by Idukki District Collector Sheeba George recently agreed to fix solar fencing on the premises of my ration shop, but that has not been done yet,” said Mr. Ameer.
“We are facing a serious threat from this tusker. We demand that it be captured immediately,” said Mr. Ameer.
After repeated attacks by ‘Arikompan’ on another ration shop at Panniyar in Santhanpara grama panchayat, the officials shifted the shop to another room and fixed solar fencing around the area. The tusker had attacked the ration shop around 10 times in the past one-and-a-half years.
According to officials, a seven-member special team from Wayanad led by Chief Forest Veterinary Surgeon Arun Zachariah has recommended capturing ‘Arikompan’ and fixing a radio collar on other rogue tuskers, ‘Chakkakompan’ and ‘Murivalankompan’. According to sources, the team would submit its recommendation within two days, and then the High Range Circle Chief Conservator of Forests will submit a proposal to capture the tusker to the Chief Wildlife Warden. But sources said that even after a week of the visit, the special team has not yet submitted their recommendations to the Munnar Divisional Forest Officer (DFO).
A senior Forest department official said that capturing ‘Arikompan’ is the only way out. “ We are awaiting a high-level decision on the issue,” said the official.
