The wild elephant strayed into a village near Silent Valley National Park in Palakkad last Wednesday.

New Delhi:

The death of a pregnant elephant in Kerala after it ate a pineapple stuffed with explosives will be investigated by the central government, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said today. There has been an outpouring of rage and grief after tragic visuals of the elephant, dead in a river, emerged in a forest officer’s post earlier this week.

The government had taken “very serious note” of the killing of the elephant, said Mr Javadekar. “We will not leave any stone unturned to investigate properly and nab the culprit(s). This is not an Indian culture to feed fire crackers and kill,” the minister tweeted.

Central Government has taken a very serious note of the killing of an elephant in Mallapuram, #Kerala. We will not leave any stone unturned to investigate properly and nab the culprit(s). This is not an Indian culture to feed fire crackers and kill.@moefcc@PIB_India@PIBHindi

– Prakash Javadekar (@PrakashJavdekar) June 4, 2020

Though Mr Javadekar’s tweet said the incident took place in Mallapuram, the elephant died in Palakkad district of Kerala.

The wild elephant strayed into a village near Silent Valley National Park in Palakkad last Wednesday when it ate a pineapple filled with firecrackers. It exploded in its mouth and in that state the elephant walked for days in pain before it went into a river and died standing on May 27.

Photos shared on social media showed the elephant standing in the river with her mouth and trunk in water, perhaps for some relief from the unbearable pain. Officials guessed from its shrunken form that the animal may have eaten the fruit 20 days ago and had starved since.

Villagers in the region often use firecracker or explosive-filled fruit to protect their fields from wild animals.

A similar incident took place last month when a female elephant was found with serious mouth injures in a nearby district, officials said. Its jaw was broken and it too died of its injuries. Officials are investigating whether this elephant had also eaten fruit packed with explosives.

There was widespread outrage on social media after Mohan Krishnan, a forest officer, posted an emotional note on his Facebook page. “When we saw her she was standing in the river, with her head dipped in the water. She had a sixth sense that she was going to die. She took the Jalasamadhi in the river in a standing position,” wrote Krishnan, who had been tasked with rescuing the elephant.

“She didn’t harm a single human being even when she ran in searing pain in the streets of the village,” he wrote.

Celebrities, activities and thousands of social media users have demanded action and expressed sorrow at the elephant’s death.

An act most #inhumane to will fully feed a pineapple full of fire crackers to friendly wild pregnant #Elephant is just unacceptable..strict action should be taken against the culprits sir ????????@vijayanpinarayi@CMOKerala@PrakashJavdekar@moefcc@ntca_indiahttps://t.co/ittFQogkQV

– Randeep Hooda (@RandeepHooda) June 2, 2020

Literacy rate doesn’t reflect education. #Elephantpic.twitter.com/r4gLkzaQaQ

– Haimanti (@theinkedletters) June 3, 2020

Somewhere in God’s own country, not Kerala..#Elephantpic.twitter.com/TUdVTdfBVj

– Rashi Verma (@AdvRashi) June 3, 2020

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Wednesday that strict action would be taken against those responsible for the elephant’s death. “The forest department is probing the case and the culprits will be brought to book,” Mr Vijayan said.

A First Information Report has been filed against unknown persons. No arrests have been made so far.