Electrocution of sambar in Hoshiarpur: accused get bail
Publish Date : 2/8/2005 9:57:00 AM Source : Onlypunjab.com Team

In another dastardly act of animal killing, a male sambar's dismembered body was recovered from a farm house at Nara village in Hoshiarpur yesterday.

Cut into pieces for meat supply to Jalandhar and some influential individuals, the animal had been electrocuted before being slaughtered for eating purposes.

Worse, however, is the news that within a day of its killing, the culprits are out on bail. This is not an isolated case where those charged with eliminating animals have gone scot-free.

On an average, four cases of poaching registered every month yield no results due to lack of official drive to get the guilty punished. Not to ignore loopholes in the law which help the killers seek bail and get away with heinous crimes.

Even in this case, the forest authorities at Hoshiarpur did not take any action against either the reputed eye specialist Dr Thind who owns the farm where parts of the sambhar were recovered or against Iqbal Singh Dhillon, owner of the adjacent farmhouse who allegedly shared portion of the meat.

The only ones nabbed for killing the Schedule III animal are migrant labourers Mahendra Kumar, employed at the farm of Dr Thind. His accomplices Raj Kumar and Bijju, both employees of Iqbal Dhillon were also arrested for electrocuting the animal and dissecting it. However, names of farmhouse owners did not figure in the damage report filed by forest authorities yesterday.

This despite the fact that Mahendra Kumar, a key accused, stated on camera that the animal meat was supplied to Mr Dhillon.

Another strange aspect is that several portions of the animal's body are still missing. Only the sambhar head with antlers, its skin and intestines were recovered from the farm house, suggesting that meat was supplied elsewhere also.

"Rear portion of the animal's thighs, considered most palatable, was not found," said Mr S.S. Bajwa, Honorary Wildlife Warden, Gurdaspur, who was part of the team that raided the farmhouse yesterday.

Honorary Wildlife Warden, Hoshiarpur, Mr Gunraj Singh, said the animal was recovered by a team comprising two forest range officers, a forest guard and a forester, besides honorary wildlife wardens, who are still disturbed over the manner in which forest officials have hushed up the case. "The act was committed in a reprehensible manner. Head of the animal was recovered from the roof of the farmhouse; its skin and intestines had been buried along the boundary of the farmhouse," said Gunraj Singh, adding that those interested in burying the case even got a small news about the incident published in a section of the media. "They did so to prevent comprehensive coverage of the case," he said.

Significantly, while employees of farmhouse owners were arrested under the Wildlife Protection Act, produced before the Chief Judicial Magistrate and even bailed out today, none of the farmhouse owners was even questioned about the killing.

Meanwhile, DFO, Hoshiarpur, Mr R.R. Kakkar, when contacted, did not answer his mobile