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Thiruvananthapuram, Jun 5: One man has been arrested in connection with the death of a pregnant elephant in Palakkad district here, Kerala Forest Minister K Raju said on Friday.

"One accused identified as Wilson has been arrested in connection with the case. More people are involved. The process to arrest all the accused is underway. Strict action will be taken in the matter to ensure such incidents are not repeated in the future," Raju told reporters here.

The elephant had died in Palakkad district on May 27 after it ate a pineapple stuffed with crackers and forest officials said that it died standing in river Velliyar after it suffered an injury in its lower jaw.

Raju said that the forest department has appointed three teams to probe the matter, and added that police are also investigating the incident as explosives were used.

"There may be some type of crackers inside the fruit. In such cases, blast occurs and the animal can not even drink water. The primary post mortem reports said that this case is like that. Let it be investigated," he said.

"Man and animal conflict is natural in our state as people residing close to the forests. The government gives compensation for farmers, Rs 10 lakhs compensation if a person dies in an animal attack," the Minister added.

The death of the pregnant elephant has sparked a controversy, with Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan terming the unfortunate death as "a painful thing" and Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar saying that the Centre has taken a "serious note" of the incident.

According to the preliminary post-mortem report, the immediate cause of the death of the female elephant was drowning followed by inhalation of water leading to lung failure.

The elephant was seen standing in the river with its mouth and trunk in the water for some relief from the pain after the explosive-filled fruit exploded in its mouth.

Six migrant workers have been killed and five others seriously injured when a speeding bus ran over them on the Delhi-Saharanpur Highway near in Muzaffarnagar, officials said on Thursday.

The accused driver, who was suspected to be under the influence of alcohol, has been arrested, said SSP Abhishek Yadav.

The workers were going on foot to their homes in Bihar from Haryana when they were hit on the Delhi-Saharanpur Highway between Ghalili Check Post and Rohana Toll Plaza, about 20 km from here late last night, the official said.

The injured -- Sushil, Nathu Saini, Pawan Saini, Pramod and Ramji Rai --were rushed to hospital.

Two of the deceased were identified as Bijender, 25, and Harsh, 20. The rest were yet to be identified.

Mumbai, Mar 15: Three suspected coronavirus patients who were quarantined left a government hospital in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar district on Saturday evening without informing anybody, the police said.

By late night, however, two of them returned to the Ahmednagar district civil hospital. Search was on for the third patient, a Topkhana police station officer said.

Earlier, two women and a man admitted to an isolation ward of the district hospital in Ahmednagar, left without informing the doctors, an officer said.

The civil surgeon contacted the Tophkhana police station in Ahmednagar city and sought polices help in tracing these persons, whose medical reports are awaited, the official added.

A person in Ahmednagar district is among the 31 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Maharashtra.