Munnar: The Forest Department has charged a non-bailable case against a person who tried to scare away the wild tusker ‘Padayappa’ using his vehicle near a tea estate here.

The case has been charged under the Wildlife Protection Act against Chudala (42) aka Das, who is a contractor at the factory division of the Kadalar Estate of the Kannan Devan Company. Range officer Arun Maharaja took the case on the direction of Munnar DFO Ramesh Vishnoy. However, Das is absconding.

The incident took place during the daytime the other day. While the tusker was standing atop the main road leading to Kadalar, Das entered his vehicle and roared it. He continued to roar the vehicle and blare the horn for some time to provoke the big-sized tusker which is in musth. It turned violent to an extent and a video depicting the same got widely circulated in social media.

Prison for scaring wild animals
As per the Wildlife Protection Act, the actions like scaring wild animals and trying to attack them invite a fine of Rs 1 lakh and prison for up to three years.