Kochi: Tests conducted by the forest department have reportedly revealed that rapper Vedan alias Hirandas Murali has possessed an original leopard tooth. The sample of the tooth, seized from him by forest department officials, is learnt to have tested positive in the forensic analysis conducted at the Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata. The test result has been submitted in Perumbavoor Judicial Magistrate Court 2. The probe team will now collect the test result report from the court. It will then prepare the chargesheet and submit it in court.
Case Background
The case pertains to an incident in April last year when Hill Palace police arrested the singer and his eight friends for possessing 6 grams of ganja from a rented flat in Tripunithura. Upon intimation by police, forest officials from Kodanad range seized a leopard tooth, which Vedan was wearing as a pendant. A case was slapped against him under the Wildlife Protection Act. However, Vedan claimed that the leopard tooth was gifted to him by a Sri Lankan native.
Controversy and Transfer Order
Vedan's arrest and subsequent media interaction by Kodanad range officer R Atheesh irked the government, especially CPM and CPI functionaries. Forest Minister A K Saseendran ordered that the officer be transferred to Ernakulam vigilance cell. The officer approached the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) following the high court's directive. The CAT ordered that the officer could not be transferred and set aside the government's transfer order.
