KOCHI:The ongoing probe into the Edamalayar poaching took a new turn with Puthanpurakkal Eldhose, the second accused in the case, confessing to the officials that he had hunted down elephants in forests outside the State as well.
According to officials, Eldhose had joined Vasu’s racket about a couple of years ago and he was also a part of the poaching racket since then and took part in several poaching operations conducted by the gang during this period.
Earlier, he had confessed to the officials that the ivory tusks were transported to Thiruvanthapuram in his car. Eldhose went into hiding when the forest sleuths launched a probe into the case and had stayed in places like Chennai, Madurai and Ernakulam, before surrendering before the judicial magistrate court at Kothamangalam the other day.
Meanwhile, the Kothamangalam Judicial First Class Magistate on Saturday remanded Manoj, owner of the farm house where Vasu had been staying as a fugitive before allegedly committing suicide, into judicial custody. The court also directed the forest officials to provide medical assistance to him as Manoj had suffered an injury allegedly after a fall while being interrogated by the forest officials.
Forest officials arrested Manoj for giving shelter to Aikkaramuttom Vasu, the key accused in the case, at his farmhouse in Dodamarg, Maharashtra.