The Assam government on Friday decided to send a four-member team to Tamil Nadu to inspect the condition of Jayamala, an adult female elephant who was allegedly tortured in a temple in the southern state.
The decision was taken after Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sharma held a meeting with top officials of the forest department on Thursday evening.
The party will discuss the matter with representatives of the Tamil Nadu government and forest department to pave the way for Jayamala’s return to Assam.
A man from Tinsukia district of eastern Assam leased Jayamala for the temple for six months in 2008.
The alleged mistreatment of elephants has sparked outrage among wildlife activists and animal lovers in Assam.
There are several cases of domesticated elephants being leased or transferred to temples by the owners of the animals in South and West India. But these are not always returned.
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Assam-based environmental activist Rohit Chowdhury complained to the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change in February 2020 against the illegal transportation and trafficking of wild and domesticated elephants from Assam to other states of India “with the involvement of the chief wildlife office. Warden of Assam”.
