CPM leader Vellanad Sasi in trouble again for beating porcupine to death

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Vellanad Panchayat President and CPM leader Vellanad Sasi has landed in trouble again. A case has been registered against Sasi after he killed a porcupine that entered a house. Although the Paruthipally Forest Department reached the panchayat office to arrest him, he was not there. The incident happened Saturday morning.

The porcupine was found in a family’s rented house in Vellanad. The people there first informed Vellanad panchayat member and they in turn informed Vellanad Sasi. However, without informing the forest department, Vellanad Sasi went there, took an iron pipe and killed the porcupine.

The locals present there said that even after telling him not to kill the animal, he did not pay heed to it and killed it. He then fled the place. The forest department officials then reached the house and inspected it. Under the leadership of RRT Roshni, the porcupine was shifted to the forest department’s vehicle. It is reported that the postmortem proceedings will begin soon.

The porcupine is a protected species included in Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. The officials informed that Vellanad Sasi has committed an offence that can result in imprisonment for up to seven years and a minimum fine of Rs 25,000. However, Vellanad Sasi told a media that he did not kill the animal and that he just checked to see whether it was dead. He said that there was a huge menace of porcupines in the entire area and thought that it would attack anyone in the house. Vellanad Sasi, who was active in the Congress, left the party and joined the CPM in 2024. He was criticized for locking the Vellanad Panchayat Secretary in a room the other day.