Three poachers held, blackbuck rescued
HYDERABAD: Hyderabad Police, in a joint operation with the Forest Department, arrested a gang of three poachers, led by a farmer from Nirmal district, on Tuesday, and rescued a blackbuck from their possession. Under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972, hunting of blackbuck is punishable by up to seven years in prison.
Chavan Shankar Baba, the farmer from Kubeer mandal in Nirmal district, has admitted to have sold the meat from wild animals on at least 10 occasions in the last two years, but the police suspect that he had done it more times.
Hyderabad Police Commissioner Anjani Kumar said they have also seized butchered deer parts, vehicles used for transporting the meat and mobile phones of the accused. “In 2018, Chavan Shankar Baba was involved in a similar case in Nizamabad district,” Anjani Kumar said.
According to the police, due to the meagre income from farming, Shankar had started hunting wildlife. During this time, he came in contact with another accused, Mohd Zubair from Nizamabad, who was involved in the sale and purchase of deer meat and live deers.
Through Zubair, Shankar met another accused, Mohd Salmanuddin, a resident of Asifnagar in Hyderabad, who had expressed his friends’ interest in eating deer meat. As per Salmanuddin’s requirement, Zubair contacted Shankar to arrange for deer meat. Accordingly, Shankar captured a blackbuck and a deer that had entered his fields and then informed Zubair, who then told Salmanuddin of the animals.
Subsequently, Salmanuddin hired a car in Hyderabad and travelled to Nirmal district along with Zubair. Salmanuddin purchased the live blackbuck for Rs 15,000 and the butchered parts of the deer for Rs 7,000 and returned to the city. Based on a tip off, the South Zone task force team and forest officials nabbed the trio. They are produced before the court and sent to remand.