No progress even after 2 months on order to drop case against farmer

VELLORE: No action was taken till date even two months after Chief Minister MK Stalin, during his visit to the district, ordered the dropping of a case foisted against a farmer near Pernambut, sources said.

Farmer D Mohan Babu of Sarangal village in Pernambut taluk was arrested on August 28 last year and lodged in the sub jail for 19 days, because he had developed and used a siren to drive away wild elephants raiding standing crops.

Forest Department officials took him to Pernambut in his own car on the pretext that they wanted him to demonstrate his siren to officials there and when he and his brother arrived at Pernambut he was arrested “due to pressure from top brass,” Mohan Babu told DT Next.

His crime was developing a siren powered by a 12 volt battery, which alerted locals to the presence of pachyderms in the locality. Talking to the newspaper, Mohan Babu said, “I had been using the siren for 8 years and three successive forest range officers relied on me to inform them of elephant movement. They were fully aware of the device and that it constituted no harm to either animals or humans.”

Following the arrest, Tamilaga Vivasayigal Sangam functionaries led by state general secretary S Udayakumar met Chief Minister Stalin when he spent two days in Vellore on February 1 and 2. After understanding the issue, “The CM ordered officials to drop the matter. This was informed to us by Collector P Kumaravel Pandian,” Udayakumar said.

“Even an enquiry by the Gudiyattam RDO exonerated Mohan Babu,” Udayakumar said and added that efforts were now on to meet Collector Kumaravel Pandian to know of the actual state of affairs. The Sangam would decide on the next course of action based on the Collector’s reply, Udayakumar said.

On whether Sarangal village faced elephant menace after removal of the siren, which was taken away by forest officials, Mohan Babu said “elephants came to the village 8 times in the lasts two months and it is lucky that there were no human casualties, as they ventured into the village itself.”

Asked about the status of the case, Vellore DFO Kalanithi said, “I assumed charge only three days ago and hence am yet to become conversant with local issues.” He however promised to look into the issue.