KASARGOD: For locals, Shailesh Krishnan is the 'Rajamanikyam' of Battathur. His one-and-a-half-acre farm in Battathur is full of Haryana buffaloes of various ages. At a time when young people are wandering for white-collar jobs, this 29-year-old started his 'buffalo farm' after dropping his CA studies. Panayal Battathur native Shailesh Krishnan, who imports 'Murrah breed' buffalo calves from Haryana, earns lakhs by raising and selling them. The name of his buffalo farm is Bekal Livestock.

Haryana's Murrah breed will have more growth when compared to buffaloes from Karnataka and Andhra. Their horns, which are curved forward, also have a special beauty. Shailesh feeds them in such a way that each buffalo gains weight of one and a half kg every day. He provides them with grass, vegetable waste and fodder. The buffaloes like cold weather. There is also a pond inside the farm.

After buying one-year-old buffaloes from homes and farms in Haryana, Shailesh brings them home in container lorries. He has started a farm in Pushkar on the Rajasthan border to keep buffaloes. From here, the buffaloes will be loaded in the vehicle to Kerala. Even though a buffalo costs Rs 10,000 when purchased from Haryana, its transportation to Kerala will cost double that much. One load of buffaloes will have forty-five of them.

A distance of 30,000 km, a journey spanning five days. Rs 2.30 lakhs for lorry rental. Shailesh is also forced to pay some amounts at checkposts and to goons and officials at the borders to transport the buffaloes safely to Kerala. He sells the buffaloes mostly in Kerala.