Published Jul 11, 2025 | 4:33 PM ⚊ Updated Jul 11, 2025 | 4:33 PM
Union Minister of State Suresh Gopi.
Synopsis: The Kerala Forest Department has initiated a preliminary inquiry into allegations that Union Minister and actor Suresh Gopi wore a pendant suspected to contain a leopard tooth, a protected item under the Wildlife Protection Act. The complainant, INTUC youth wing leader AA Mohamed Hashim has been summoned to appear before the Pattikkad Range Forest Officer on 21 July.
The Kerala Forest Department has launched a preliminary investigation into allegations that Union Minister and actor Suresh Gopi wore a necklace suspected to feature a leopard tooth – an item protected under the Wildlife Protection Act.
The inquiry follows a 29 April complaint lodged by AA Mohamed Hashim, State General Secretary of the INTUC youth wing.
Hashim has been summoned to appear before the Pattikkad Range Forest Officer on 21 July and has been asked to submit supporting evidence.
He claimed to possess visual proof and had initially submitted the complaint to the State Police Chief, who subsequently forwarded it to the Forest Department.
Hashim argued that the minister’s alleged act violates the Wildlife Protection Act, under which leopards are listed in Schedule I, granting them the highest level of protection and prohibiting possession of any of their body parts.
Earlier this year, photographs showing Gopi wearing a pendant resembling leopard teeth or claws circulated widely on social media, following Hashim’s formal complaint to the State Police Chief.
The incident followed on the heels of the arrest of rapper Vedan in a similar case.
Hashim had earlier told South First that the incident occurred on 13 June 2024, during Gopi’s visit to the Mamanikkunnu temple in Kannur.
“Later, at a public event in Thrissur, he was seen wearing the same pendant. Visual evidence has already been submitted to the State Police Chief,” he said.
“The Wildlife Protection Act is stringent. Why has no case been registered yet? Is there a separate law for Union Ministers?”
Hashim added that while he had not approached the Forest Department directly, the police ought to have taken action on the basis of his complaint.
“A person who has taken an oath to uphold the law should not be found engaging in actions that could be seen as unconstitutional or in violation of the law,” he said.
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
