GUWAHATI: A female elephant named ‘Joymala’, is allegedly being held illegally by a temple without any valid documents in Srivilliputhur in Tamil Nadu.
The 33-year-old elephant was brought to TN in 2008 on a temporary lease and was never sent back.
Currently, it is at Natchiyar temple in Srivilliputhur while the owner is in Assam.
According to a report by the New Indian Express, an RTI query filed by animal rights activist Antony Clement Rubin, Wildlife Warden Office of Grizzled Squirrel Wildlife Sanctuary in Srivilliputhur, the ownership certificate of Joymala, identifies the owner as Girin Moran, of Tinuskia district, and he claimed the elephant was kept in a place called Kakapathar in Assam.
The report stated that, 259 captive elephants transported outside Assam between 2003 and 2007 have not been returned.