No apparent owners for baby jumbo rescued at Matale
The Police claim the baby elephant rescued from Matale last week was transported from a house belonging to the Kandy Mayor Thushantha Mahendra Ratwatte.
“According to testimonies of the apprehended driver and the mahout, the baby elephant was being transported from the household of the Mayor of Kandy,” Matale Police OIC Wimal Shantha told the Sunday Times.
Mayor Ratwatte was not immediately available for comment.
Central Province DIG H.N.B Ambanwela, on whose instructions the raid was carried out, said no one has so far presented himself as the ‘owner’ of the baby elephant. No registration documents were presented when the baby elephant was rescued either, he added.
Other sources claimed that the baby elephant was owned by Basnayake Nilame Kushan Yashoda Wegodapola, who denied owning the animal.
“I don’t have such an elephant; people make up stories,” he told the Sunday Times.
The police rescued the baby elephant while it was being illegally transported in the back of a lorry in the Balakaduwa area in Matale, based on an anonymous tip-off received by DIG Ambanwela. Wildlife activist Pubudu Weerarathne de- termined the baby elephant to be around three years old, caught in the wilds about six months ago.
Some witnesses at the scene claimed the lorry carrying the baby elephant was followed by a ‘luxury Pajero vehicle.’ However, once the Police arrived, the Pajero sped off, the witnesses said. The baby elephant was reportedly being transported from the Dalada Maligawa where the animal had participated for 10 days in the annual Esala Perahera.
The Police apprehended the lorry driver Marasinghelage Dhanapala, and the accompanying mahout, Kamathegedara Thilakarathne, for theft of common property.
Last Friday, Matale Additional District Judge and Magistrate Sampath Gamage ordered the driver and the mahout remanded until august 27. The custody of the baby elephant has been handed over to the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage. The lorry used to illegally transport the baby elephant was ordered to be released on a bail of Rs. two million.
The Magistrate further ordered the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) Director General to submit a veterinarian’s report and a valuation report on the baby elephant by August 27. An initial veterinarian’s report was submitted to the court by Dr. Promodhatha Surendra, the veterinarian for the Giritale and Trincomalee regions.
“The Magistrate also ordered the DWC to carry out further investigations,” OIC Shantha said.
DWC Director General H.D. Rathnayaka was not available for comment.This baby elephant rescue comes amidst an illegal elephant registration racket engulfing the DWC, exposed by an audit query report submitted last month by Deputy Auditor General Lalith Ambanwela.His report revealed procedural anomalies, shocking negligence and involvement of higher-ups in the DWC and the Wildlife Ministry, including former Minister S.M. Chandrasena, Ministry Secretary Udeni Wickremasinghe and DG Rathnayaka, in issuing valid permits for applications submitted using questionable or downright illegal information, including forged signatures.
The Bribery and Corruption Commission and the police have yet to investigate the illegal permits unearthed by the audit query report, despite the broad powers these institutions possess to promptly do so.