Poacher was released on February 23, 2024, on Amazon Prime Video in multiple languages and in no time it has become the talk of the town among fans. In fact, it is trending at number 1 in India in terms of the most watched web series on Amazon Prime Video in February last week. Poacher is a real-life crime drama created by Richie Mehta and produced by Alia Bhatt. Notably, Richie Mehta is famous for winning Emmy Awards for Delhi Crime, while Alia Bhatt is an ace Bollywood actress & producer. Poacher features critically acclaimed actors like Nimisha Sajayan, Roshan Mathew, Dibyendu Bhattacharya, and more in the leading roles. Poacher is a true story based on Operation Shikar which was carried out between 2015 and 2017 by Kerala Forest officials after illegal ivory trading & hunting of elephants came to the fore. Since you have landed on this page, True Scoop News assumes that you have already watched Poacher on Amazon Prime Video and are wondering about real-life Mala whose role in the case was quite significant. Below is everything you need to know about Poacher True Story-
Poacher True Story
As mentioned above, Poacher is a true story based on Operation Shikar which was carried out between 2015 and 2017 by Kerala Forest officials after illegal ivory trading & hunting of elephants came to the fore. As shown in the Malayalam series, Operation Shikar was launched only after a local forest watcher named Kunjumon Devasey made a wild confession to the Kerala Forest Department – that he had allegedly aided poachers in the killing of over 20 elephants in the state's forests over two years.
After the Kerala Government's order Operation Shikar was launched and the investigation led to the arrest of 72 people in an elephant poaching case. The arrest included elephant poachers, government officials, carvers, and high-end ivory art dealers -- all of whom were involved in the ivory smuggling racket. The Kerala Forest Department seized 464 kg of ivory artifacts worth Rs 13 crore in the international black market.
Who is real-life Mala Jogi?
The character of Mala stands in Amazon Prime Video's Poacher. Actress Nimisha Sajayan plays the character Mala, a Forest Department Officer. Mala's father was a poacher himself and killed many animals during his time including elephants. Mala joined the Forest Service in order to atone for the sins of her father. Now, the question arises who is Real Life Mala? Continue reading below-
The character of Mala Jogi is inspired by the DFO of the Kerala Forest Department Manu Sathyan. Creator Richie Mehta in an interview reportedly revealed that the character of Mala Jogi is inspired by Manu, who along with many other forest officers, worked closely with the Kerala Police Department to arrest the poachers and middlemen in Kerala. The character is an amalgamation of several officers working together on the case.
When a forest watcher Kunjumon Devasey (named Aruku in the show) complained to the Police station about the poaching case, Manu was working as a range officer. After the case, he was promoted to the position of DFO. Manu has been working as a forest officer for about 20 years now.