Union Minister's claims about Malappuram teen's death baseless, says Kerala Forest Minister Saseendran

Kerala Forest Minister denies negligence in teen's death due to live wire trap, criticizes Union Environment Minister's claims.

Kerala Forest Minister A.K. Saseendran on Tuesday (June 10, 2025) termed as "half-truths" and "baseless" the reported claims by regarding the State's powers to kill wild animals and the recent death of a teen in Malappuram due to a live wire trap laid for wild boars.

Mr. Saseendran said that the Union Environment Minister was merely reiterating the allegations of the Opposition with regard to the boy's death.

He denied that there was any negligence on the part of the State government as was reportedly claimed by the Union Minister.

Mr. Saseendran also said that while the Chief Wildlife Warden (CWC) has powers to order killing of a wild animal which causes loss of life or property in populated areas, a standard operating procedure (SOP) has to be followed before issuing any such direction.

One of the requirements under the SOP is to constitute a local area committee which shall also include a representative of the National Tiger Conservation Authority, the Forest Minister said.

He said that there are similar impractical requirements in the SOP which hamper the decision to be taken by the CWC.

"We sent a letter requesting the Central government to give relaxations with regard to such requirements in the SOP. However, there is no response yet on that and the Union Minister was silent about it when he spoke to the media," Mr. Saseendran contended.