1 held for jumbo’s death, Maneka’s website hacked

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 5

One person has been arrested in connection with the death of a pregnant elephant in Kerala, the state Forest Department said on Friday. “KFD has zeroed in on the culprits and made the first arrest in the case,” the department said in a tweet. On Thursday, sources in the Forest Department said three persons were under the scanner and a search was on for two more people.

Meanwhile, the official website of People for Animals (PFA), an animal rights NGO founded by BJP MP Maneka Gandhi, was hacked on Friday by a group of “ethical hackers” over her remarks made on Malappuram district while referring to the death of a pregnant elephant in Kerala.

A message on the defaced website read, “Maneka Gandhi dragged the sad death of pregnant elephant for dirty politics,” with the popular “coffin dance” music playing in the background.

Maneka has been facing the wrath of Keralites after she tweeted that Malappuram district was known for “its intense criminal activity,” especially with regard to animals. A major political slugfest ensued after Maneka Gandhi yesterday claimed that the elephant died in Malappuram (a district with a majority of Muslims), labelling it “India’s most violent district”. The location set the social media on fire, with rivals accusing the BJP of “communalising” and “using” the heartbreaking incident, “the genesis of which was essentially man-animal conflict”, for “political gains”.

The elephant died in the Velliyar river, “which borders Palakkad and Malappuram districts”, they said.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who also condemned the attempts to communalise the issue, said “lies built upon inaccurate descriptions and half-truths were employed to obliterate the truth. Some even tried to import bigotry into the narrative”.

(with inputs from PTI).