Mananthavadi: The Thirunelli forest officials nabbed two employees of a Wayanad resort for allegedly trespassing into the jungle and setting up camera traps.
The arrested, MK Manu (33) of Kenichira and Bhaskar (23) of Masthoor, Chikkaballapura in Karnataka, were the manager and naturalist of the Thirunelli Jungle Treat Resort, respectively. Forest officers have also seized three camera traps (a camera that is automatically triggered by motion in its vicinity, like the presence of an animal or a human being) from them.

The accused set up the devices on trees inside the forest and used the visuals, including those of elephant herds and tigers, on the resort’s website and social media platforms. The National Tiger Conservation Authority also inquired about using tiger movement-related footage on the resort’s blog and websites. “They used cameras with advanced features providing high-quality visuals and good battery backup,” an official said.

The resort and its activities were under lens after the forest department received complaints of the facility allowing guests to illegally trek into the jungle, causing disturbance to the wild animals. According to sources, there were also allegations that the resort is situated on an elephant corridor. “It (the resort) had been offering illegal jungle safaris, violating rules and disturbing wildlife,” said Wayanad Prakriti Samrakshana Samithy.

The accused were produced before the Mananthavadi Judicial First Class Magistrate Court II, which remanded them for 14 days in judicial custody.
Thirunelveli Deputy Range Officer Jayesh Joseph led the investigation. Section forest officers M Madhavan and K  Bindu and beat forest officers GL Prasanth, GS Nandagopal and DR Prapanch were also part of the probe team.