The mahout and assistant, who were arrested for beating elephant Jayamalyatha of Andal Temple, Srivilliputhur, at the annual rejuvenation camp for temple and mutt elephants at Thekkampatti in the district last month were granted bail by a court in Mettupalayam on Tuesday.
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Mahout Vinil Kumar and his assistant Sivaprasad were arrested by the Forest Department on February 21 after a video showed them hitting the legs of the temple elephant with sticks after having chained it to a tree.
A Forest Department official told The Hindu that the two men were granted bail on Tuesday.
Following the incident, Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department had said that the Andal temple administration suspended Kumar as per the directions of HR&CE Department Commissioner S. Prabhakar. Kumar was appointed by the temple as the mahout for Jayamalyatha in 2011.
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