POACHING PHOTOS JOLT PUNJAB POLICE

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*PUNJAB PULSE*

Tuesday , September 26, 2006

*Poaching photos shock police into action* *Dharmendra

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*Amritsar, September 25:* AFTER the high profile cases of the hunting of

endangered wild animals involving Bollywood actor Salman Khan and former

cricketer Mansur Ali Pataudi grabbed the headlines, some photos of deer

hunting on the Punjab-Himachal Pradesh border in Gurdaspur district have

caused shock.

 

Submitted to the Batala police, the pictures — showing deer being killed and

their skin being removed to be sold in the black market — have compelled the

police to initiate an investigation.

 

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disclosure happened accidentally. Batala resident Rajbir Singh had a land

dispute with his two uncles, Sukhjinder Singh alias Seeta and Sukhwinder

Singh alias Billa. During a scuffle both of them had allegedly fired on

Rajbir and he got a case registered against them. Both are absconding.

Rajbir along with some relatives occupied their two-room house, which was

also a disputed property. ''In one of the cupboards, I saw these

photographs, in which my uncle and some of his accomplices are posing with

dead wild animals. I already had a clue that they were secretly involved in

illegal hunting as they used to boast about it when they were drunk. The

pictures proved my fears right,'' said Rajbir while talking to The Indian

Express.

 

He said he showed the pictures to the police. He said his uncles used to go

to the Mand area in Garshankar where they used to hunt deer on the banks of

the Sutlej.

 

DSP (Rural), Batala police, Prabhdev Singh confirmed that the complaint had

been received. ''We are sending the pictures to forensic laboratories to

ascertain their validity and authenticity. We are also in search of the two

accused and on their arrest they will also give us some facts,'' he said,

adding that they had not registered any case yet.

 

Rajbir claimed that the pictures were clicked a few months back. A tanner

known to him called Shanna said he was recently called by Seeta and Billa to

their houses and told to remove the skin of goats. ''When I saw the animals,

I said they were not goats and refused. I was abused and sent home with a

warning against talking about it,'' he said.

 

The police are yet to question Shanna.

 

The wildlife department of Gurdaspur is not aware of the case. ''We have not

been contacted by the police. If the police want we will start our own

investigation and help them nab the culprits,'' said a wildlife department

officer at Gurdaspur, requesting anonymity.