Thiruvananthapuram : Protests broke out in Wayanad on Monday as a large number of people demanded that a man-eating tiger caught in a cage put up by the forest department, be shot.
While the forest officials want to transport the tiger, the locals want it to be put down as on December 9 this tiger had killed and eaten a 36-year-old farmer Prajeesh.
Prajeesh’s half-eaten body was found about 500 metres from a forest area at Vakeri near Kalpetta in Wayanad district. The residents of the area had been seeking the killing of the tiger since then
The forest department had placed cages at various places and on Monday morning the tiger was trapped in a cage, close to where Prajeesh’s body was found.
“We want this man-eating tiger killed because it has already taken our Prajeesh’s life, so we won’t allow the authorities to transport it from here. We are aware of what the government will do. After removing this cage, they will release the tiger into the surrounding forests. “We won’t allow this to happen again,” yelled the demonstrators.
The Kerala High Court last week dismissed a Public Interest Litigation that contested an order from upper Kerala Forest Department officials ordering the tiger to be killed, and fined the petitioner Rs 25,000.
“Considering the order which, in our opinion, is a well-reasoned order, we feel that this public interest litigation has been filed only with motives known to the petitioner. And we dismiss this petition with cost of Rs. 25,000. The amount shall be deposited with the Legal Aid within a period of two weeks from today,” the High Court order said.
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