BHOPAL: Wildlife activist Ajay Dubey has approached the Madhya Pradesh High Court seeking a CBI probe into the death of a 19-month-old Indian-born male cheetah cub that suffered pellet injuries in the forests of Sheopur district.
Senior advocate Aditya Sanghi, representing Dubey, has sought an urgent hearing before the High Court’s principal bench in Jabalpur, citing the seriousness of the matter.
On Tuesday, Dubey also wrote to Union Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Kirti Vardhan Singh, the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) member secretary and the Additional Director General of Wildlife, demanding a CBI probe.
The Opposition Congress demanded a detailed response from Chief Minister Mohan Yadav. “It seems that the state’s CM only knows how to open the gates of the cage to release the cheetahs, but doesn’t seem to know about the safety of the same cheetahs in the free ranging forests. This has been exposed by the death of the 19-months-old male cheetah cub, from whose body, multiple bullets of firearms have been recovered. The MP government and the CM needs to come clear on the issue,” said Leader of the Opposition Umang Singhar, who served as forest minister in the Kamal Nath-led Congress government from 2018 to 2020.
Singhar made the remarks while Yadav was in Shajapur district to review the second phase of Project Antelope Translocation. Under the project, blackbucks and nilgais are being moved to designated forest areas using the South African Boma method, with helicopter support. The animals, which damage farmers’ crops, are being relocated to areas including the three cheetah habitats — Kuno National Park, Gandhi Sagar Sanctuary and Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve.
The second phase targets the relocation of 2,000 blackbucks and nilgais. So far, 1,236 animals have been rescued and are being transported to designated forest areas.
On Wednesday, the Centre deputed a high-level team to investigate the cheetah cub’s death. The team comprises the Inspector General of Forests from the NTCA, the Additional Director of the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) and the WCCB’s regional deputy director.
The team has been tasked with investigating the circumstances surrounding the death, examining available evidence and coordinating with the Madhya Pradesh Forest Department to ensure swift action.
The state government had constituted a Special Task Force comprising forest and police officers on Tuesday to investigate the incident.
The central team will also examine security protocols and the monitoring and protection measures in place to prevent similar incidents. It will submit its findings and recommendations to the Union Environment Ministry for further directions to the state government and field authorities.
