India Today NE impact: CM Himanta Biswa Sarma to send a team to inspect the condition of tortured elephants from Assam in Tamil Nadu

The Assam government has decided to send a team to Tamil Nadu to inspect the condition of Joymala, an elephant from Assam, which allegedly faced cruelty in a temple in the southern state. If the team finds evidence of any torture, the state government will take every possible measure to bring back the elephant. Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma told India Today NE that the government would bring back every elephant transported from the state to other states if it finds any evidence of cruelty. He is personally in touch with Tamil Nadu government.

This has come immediately after India Today NE filed an investigative report detailing how elephants from the northeast are transported to other parts of India, mostly to south Indian states and kept illegally captive even after the expiry of the lease period. The cruelty faced by these captive elephants got national attention on August 27, when the animal rights group, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), released a video on Twitter showing Joymala, an elephant from Assam, being tortured by her mahouts inside a temple complex in Tamil Nadu.

Assam government has now decided to send a team of forest officials to Tamil Nadu to inspect the conditions of Joymala and eight other elephants kept in the south Indian states. While Joymala had got national attention, the plight of other elephants were brought to light by India Today NE’s exclusive report. “It's not about just one elephant. Our government is committed towards rescuing other captive elephants from Assam if they are subjected to cruelty. But at the moment we are verifying the claims of cruelty,” Chief Minister Sarma told India Today NE during an exclusive conversation.