HYDERABAD: On the death of the elephant that was brutally killed which led to widespread across the country, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday said that the culprits will be booked soon and that probe is underway.

He took to Twitter and said, “An investigation is underway, focusing on three suspects. The police and forest departments will jointly investigate the incident. The district police chief and the district forest officer visited the site today. We will do everything possible to bring the culprits to justice.

“Many of you have reached out to us. We want to assure you that your concerns will not go in vain. Justice will prevail,” he said in another tweet.

In another tweet, he said that the tragedy was used to unleash a hate campaign.

“Having said that, we are saddened by the fact some have used this tragedy to unleash a hate campaign. Lies built upon inaccurate descriptions and half truths were employed to obliterate the truth. Some even tried to import bigotry into the narrative. Wrong priorities,” he wrote.

A Special Investigation team was set up for probing the death of the elephant, which took place in Mannarkad Forest division in Palakkad district late last month. The incident came to light after Mohan Krishnan, a forest officer, posted an emotional note on his Facebook page, narrating it.

Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar on Wednesday said the Centre has sought a complete report and assured stern action will be taken against the culprits involved. "We have sought a complete report on the incident. Stern action will be taken against the culprits," he had said.

In a tweet on Thursday, the Minister condemned the incident, saying "This is not an Indian culture to feed fire crackers and kill." "We will not leave any stone unturned to investigate properly and nab the culprit(s)," he said in a tweet.

The elephant died at Velliyar River on May 27 after efforts by forest personnel to bring it to the river bank using two other trained elephants failed. "Her jaw was broken and she was unable to eat after she chewed the pineapple and it exploded in her mouth," a senior forest official had said earlier.

The post-mortem revealed that the pachyderm was pregnant.