Petition regarding unregistered Elephant ran amok at Calicut for three hours during night period due to torture as part of unauthorized Elephant parade.

The Elephant Ambadi Kannan ran amok from Thali temple when it was used unlawfully for carrying Udaval in respect of a festival at Valayandad Bhagavathi Temple. This temple procession was conducted without obtaining the mandatory permission from the District Collector who is the Chairman of District level Elephant monitoring committee appointed by the Supreme Court of India with effect from 18th August 2015. This Elephant was paraded there without providing sufficient fodder or water. It’s mahout had no control over the Elephant as he was appointed a few days ago. This Elephant is infamous for misbehavior and had ran amok at several places in Kottayam, Thrissur and Palakkad districts for past 8 years. The legs of the Elephant have several scars which is the proof of frequent torture by using iron objects like banned weapons like Ankush and Knife. Moreover, the use of fire at Calicut by Police and the public to control the Elephant is also a violation of PCA Act 1960 and the Wild Life Protection Act 1972.

Calicut city witnessed the horror scene of intimidating a captive Elephant by its unlawful owner and festival organizers to torture it in a circle of manmade fire. This type of mismanagement of Elephant with tacit support of District Collector, District Police Chief and District ACF of Social Forestry having unholy relationship with festival organizers and Elephant contractors mafia is not suitable for a holy city which is famous for Hindu – Muslim amity. Incidentally, this Elephant which was brought illegally for a temple festival had smashed the compound wall of a Muslim worship place. This type of converting an Elephant which is a heritage animal to an object of torture must be dealt with strict penal actions including arrest of all the persons who were parties to the torture of this Elephant with immediate effect.