Rapper Vedan booked for wildlife hunting among other charges

The forest department has booked Kerala rapper Vedan (Hirandas Murali) for wildlife hunting, other than illegal possession of wildlife articles. File
| Photo Credit: Instagram/@vedanwithword

The forest department has booked Kerala rapper Vedan (Hirandas Murali) for wildlife hunting, other than illegal possession of wildlife articles.

The Kodanad forest range officers are set to produce the popular Kerala rapper Vedan before a court on Tuesday (April 29, 2025) after an overnight-long interrogation following his arrest for possessing a suspected leopard tooth.

He was arrested on non-bailable charges by a team of forest officials led by the Kodanad Range Officer immediately after he was released on bail by the Hill Palace in Kochi City following his arrest, along with eight of his friends, after 6 grams of suspected ganja were recovered from his apartment near Vytilla in Kochi on Monday (April 28, 2025.

The Hill Palace police alerted the forest officials after they noticed a leopard tooth-like locket attached to his chain. Reportedly, the forest vigilance wing confirmed it to be a leopard tooth. Vedan, it is learnt, also confessed to having procured it from Thailand.

Since then, Vedan has been booked under the Wildlife Protection Act Section 2(16) (hunting), Section 2(31) (“trophy” means the whole or any part of any captive animal or wild animal, other than vermin, which has been kept or preserved by any means, whether artificial or natural), Section 9(prohibition of hunting), Section 39 (1) (declares as government property any wild animal hunted, animal article, trophy or uncured trophy or meat derived from any wild animal, ivory imported into India and an article made from such ivory, and vehicle, vessel, weapon, trap or tool that has been used for committing an offence and has been seized) Section 50 (power of entry, search, arrest and detention).