B.T Srinivasan, the General secretary of the United Federation of Resident Welfare Associations Hyderabad, has announced a cash reward of Rs. 2 lakh to any person who can help identify the killers of pregnant elephant in Kerala. Srinivasan took to Twitter to announce a reward for anyone who has information about the incident. “I want to offer a reward of 2 lakhs from my personal savings to the person who gives information about the miscreants who made a pregnant elephant eat a pineapple stuffed with crackers. The elephant, which died in Kerala’s Malappuram (sic),” he tweeted.
Mr. Srinivasan said he was moved by the images of the pregnant elephant and decided to do something about it. “How can a human being be so brutal to a poor animal? People who are behind this incident should be identified and punished. I am just doing my part here,” he said. Meanwhile, Humane Society International/India has offered `50,000 to informers for help with the identification, leading to the conviction of the accused. Sumanth Bindumadhav, campaign manager for wildlife at HSI India, said that incidents like these emphasise the need to improve the existing system of ex-gratia payment by the government. Union environment minister Prakash Javadekar on Wednesday sought a report on the incident.