Vikram’s Lar Gibbon Reel Sparks Tamil Nadu Forest Dept Probe Into CK Ranganathan Over Suspected Exotic Wildlife Trafficking
Chennai: An Instagram reel posted on Sunday by popular Tamil actor Vikram (Kennedy John Victor), cuddling a young monkey native to the forests of Malaysia and Indonesia, has landed his daughter’s fatherin-law, prominent businessman CK Ranganathan, in a soup with the Tamil Nadu Forest Department over its purported links to the exotic species trafficking trade. Actor Vikram and his sammandhi CK…
An Instagram reel posted by Tamil actor Vikram showed him cuddling a young lar gibbon, an endangered species native to Malaysia and Indonesia. This has led to the businessman CK Ranganathan, Vikram's father-in-law, coming under investigation by the Tamil Nadu Forest Department for suspected involvement in exotic wildlife trafficking.
The lar gibbon, protected under CITES and India's Wildlife (Protection) Act, was allegedly trafficked from Southeast Asia to Manipur, Erode, and finally to Ranganathan’s residence in Chennai. Activists suspect this is evidence of trafficking through the land route. Erode dealer SK Keshavanathan confirmed the monkeys were intended for "CKR" and called him a close associate.
Ranganathan's manager promised to respond but did not answer subsequent calls. The monkey has since been returned to Erode. The Forest Department plans to initiate an inquiry into the matter.
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