Thiruvananthapuram, May 19 (). Surprisingly, Arikomban, the rogue elephant from Kerala who has trampled over 10 people and vandalized several ration shops to steal rice, has quite a fan following in Idukki district.
A group of auto drivers have formed the Arikomban Fans Association in the hill station’s Annakara.
Here the elephant was sedated and released into the forest away from human habitation. For this, a large number of police and local people had to struggle for a long time along with the officials of the forest department.
Huge flex boards with the name of Arikomban Fans Association were found in Ankara on Friday.
Some auto rickshaw drivers said, when Arikomban was caught, we had seen the entire operation. While the operation was going on, some baby elephants were watching it. We are sorry that the Arikombans living here were forcibly evicted. We were really sad and decided to form this new organization.
Another passionate Arikomban fan, who is also an auto rickshaw driver, said the elephant was captured in the second attempt.
That said, we know a lot of money has been spent on this operation. If the authorities had used a quarter of it, he could have been safely settled here, which was his favorite place. What we are saying is not just the opinion of a few people, but the opinion of the majority.
Arikomban was so named because he liked rice (ari means rice and komban means tusker in Malayalam) and his target was mostly rice shops and houses where rice was stored.
According to the latest news, Arikomban who has been fitted with a radio collar after his capture last month is now in the vicinity of the area from where he was nabbed last month and his fans are probably waiting for his return.
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