3 suspects identified in elephant killing, justice will prevail: Kerala CM

Amid outrage over the incident from people belonging to different walks of life, the Kerala CM said earlier ordered probe and assured that 'justice would prevail.'

"In a tragic incident in Palakkad dist, a pregnant elephant has lost its life. Many of you have reached out to us. We want to assure you that your concerns will not go in vain. Justice will prevail," he said.

This comes after several celebrities reached out to him through social media and demanded that the perpetrators should be tried with stricter laws.

"Having said that, we are saddened by the fact some have used this tragedy to unleash a hate campaign. Lies built upon inaccurate descriptions and half truths were employed to obliterate the truth. Some even tried to import bigotry into the narrative. Wrong priorities," he said after Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said the Indian government doesn't approve this kind of culture to feed animals with firecrackers.

Vijayan alleged there was an attempt to communalise the incident.

"Kerala is a society that respects the outrage against injustice. If there is any silver lining in this, it is that we now know that we can make our voices heard against injustice. Let us be that people who fight injustice in all its forms; everytime, everywhere," he wrote.

Meanwhile, Javadekar also announced a central investigation and wrongly mentioned the location as Mallapuram in Kerala.

In a tweet, he wrote: "Central Government has taken a very serious note of the killing of an elephant in Mallapuram, #Kerala. We will not leave any stone unturned to investigate properly and nab the culprit(s). This is not an Indian culture to feed fire crackers and kill."

Earlier, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and animal rights activist Maneka Gandhi has sought intervention of the Supreme Court in the matter of atrocities against elephants in Kerala.

In a brutal instance of animal abuse, a pregnant elephant in Kerala died after she ate a pineapple full of firecrackers offered to her by some locals.

Disturbing visuals showed the elephant dying slowly while standing in water in northern Kerala's Malappuram district.

The wild elephant had left the forest and traversed into a nearby village near Silent Valley National Park in Palakkad last month in search of food.

As she walked down the streets, she was offered the pineapple full of crackers by locals.

The cracker reportedly exploded inside her mouth causing grave injury inside and to the tongue.

Following this, the elephant reportedly walked around the town in pain and hunger for days. However, she was unable to eat anything.

The elephant eventually walked up to the Velliyar River and stood there. It was then photos were taken of her gradual death there on May 27.

The incident came to light after Mohan Krishnan, a section forest officer in Mannarkkad in Palakkad district, wrote an emotional note on Facebook on May 30 describing the brutal killing, which quickly went viral and drew national attention.

According to reports, villagers in the region often use firecrackers or explosives stuffed in food to protect their fields from wild animals.