‘Vanishing’ elephant lands magician in trouble

Bhopal: Renowned illusionist Jadugar Anand, who is currently giving his performance in district headquarters town of Indore in Madhya Pradeh, has landed into trouble for his magic show in which he makes an elephant disappear.

An organisation fighting for the causes of animals has moved the Indore circuit bench of Madhya Pradesh high court seeking legal action against the magician for using elephant in his magic show in violation of relevant provisions of Wildlife Act.

“We have moved the Indore branch of high court seeking a directive to release the elephant used in the magic show in the wild and also action against the magician. Use of the pachyderm in the magic show amounted to cruelty against the wild animal. Besides, we have found wounds in the elephants following its use in the show”, member of People for Animal, Priyansu Jain, who filed the petition in the court, told this newspaper on Wednesday.

The court set May 24 as the date for hearing in the case, according to her.

According to her, members of her organisation took local officials of state forest department to the magic show pleading them to seize the elephant and release it in the wild.

“But, the magician produced the documents showing that he has obtained permission from the Indore district collector for the show. Following this, the forest officials refused to act on the matter”, she said explaining the reason behind the move by her to file a petition in the local court to set the elephant free.