District Forest Officer is engaged in talks with railway officials in Kerala on matter (Representational)
Five forest department officials from Tamil Nadu, who had gone to Palakkad to enquire about the speed of the train which mowed down three elephants, including a pregnant one, near Ettimadai on the outskirts of the city on November 26, were reportedly detained at Palakkad railway station on Saturday, police said.
The loco pilot and co pilot, both from Kerala, were questioned about the deaths of the pachyderms by Railway and forest department officials earlier and they were stated to have said that they tried to stop the train and scare away the pachyderms.
The forest peronnel from Tamil Nadu, who went to Palakkad railway station, were reportedly detained by railway police there.
Hearing about this, some fringe political outfits like Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kahakam and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal staged a protest near the Malayali Samaj building and raised slogans against the action.
District Forest Officer Ashok Kumar is engaged in talks with railway officials in Kerala on the matter, police said.