Guwahati: A disturbing trend of alleged illegal elephant transportation has come to light with the recent discovery of a ten-elephant consignment sent from Arunachal Pradesh to Kerala via Assam.
The man behind this transportation, Omanakuttan Pillai, a resident of Kollam in Kerala, has a history of such violations, raising concerns about the welfare of these captured elephants and the continued exploitation of loopholes in wildlife protection laws.
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Sources allege that Pillai, who has faced multiple cases under the Wildlife Protection Act for transporting elephants out of the Northeast, orchestrated the dispatch of these ten elephants on June 4 from Arunachal Pradesh.
There are strong indications that these elephants were captured from the forests of the Dhemaji and Tinsukia districts in Assam before being transported to Arunachal Pradesh. This manoeuvre appears to be an attempt to create forged documents presenting them as captive elephants within Arunachal Pradesh.
Pillai’s past actions paint a concerning picture. In 2021, West Bengal Forest officials apprehended him at the Assam border while transporting two female elephants, Laxmi and Unni, without microchips. These elephants were destined for the Radhe Krishna Temple Elephant Welfare Trust in Jamnagar, Gujarat, funded by Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries. Despite paperwork claiming the elephants were microchipped, a thorough inspection revealed otherwise, constituting a clear violation of the Wildlife Protection Act.
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The Bengal authorities returned the elephants to Assam after highlighting the discrepancies. Laxmi and Unni were originally transported from Banderdewa in Arunachal Pradesh’s Papum Pare district, further solidifying the suspicion of a well-rehearsed strategy to bypass legal regulations. Assam’s then PCCF & HoFF, MK Yadava, requested the West Bengal Forest department to hand over Pillai along with the elephants, mahouts, and truck drivers for prosecution.
Here’s where the story takes a puzzling turn. While Pillai possessed a power of attorney for the two elephants, it remains unclear how he obtained it considering his past case of illegal animal transfer in Kerala dating back to 2012.
Following a period of detention at Manas National Park in Assam, a release order issued by MK Yadava surprisingly allowed the release of Pillai, the elephants, mahouts, trucks, and ultimately, the transport of the elephants to Gujarat with the permission of the Assam Forest Department.
This incident is not isolated. In 2014, another female elephant named Thunuki was found being transported from Assam to Kerala without a mandatory microchip. The animal, chained and with no visible food or water supplies, was intercepted by officials at Manas National Park. Pillai, who secured the transit permit for Thunuki, claimed it was being donated to the Sree Padmanabha Swami Temple in Thiruvananthapuram. The elephant was reportedly purchased by Pillai from Bhupen Gogoi of Lakhimpur district.
These repeated instances of illegal elephant trafficking expose a network that exploits vulnerabilities in inter-state wildlife transportation regulations.
The Assam Forest Department’s seemingly contradictory actions in the 2021 case raise serious questions about the enforcement of wildlife protection laws.