(IN) Poaching Charges Dog Khel Ratna Awardee

[Guest guest]

Poaching Charges Dog Khel Ratna Awardee

 

The CBI has enough evidence against Trap Shooter Manavjit Singh Sandhu to nail

him but the Chandigarh wildlife department's dithering could save him

Vikram Jit Singh

 

Chandigarh

It was a quirk of fate that led the CBI to unearth poached wildlife articles

and nearly 151 photographs showing world trap shooting champion and Rajiv Gandhi

Khel Ratna awardee for 2006, Manavjit Singh Sandhu, killing wild animals.

 

On October 10, 2006, the CBI stumbled upon the evidence while raiding the

houses of then Sangrur MLA and arms dealer, Arvind Khanna. Khanna’s MLA flat in

Chandigarh had been let out to Manavjit’s father, Gurbir Singh Sandhu, himself a

former international trap shooter. However, both father and son have gone

scot-free despite the evidence handed over by the CBI due to the bungling of the

Chandigarh wildlife department.

Nearly 10 months have gone by since the CBI handed over 151 pictures of

Manavjit and Gurbir with shikar. These include pictures of Manavjit with more

than half-a-dozen wild boars and deer shot in different shoots. Gurbir, too,

features in these photos, with one picture showing Gurbir with dead wild boars

in another state with tribals loading the kills onto a Maruti Gypsy. The CBI,

which had seized the negatives and two video clips, gave them to the Chandigarh

administration for investigation.

Apart from the incriminating pictures, the CBI seized wildlife articles from

the flat. " Of these, some were declared before the Chandigarh administration in

2003 while others had not been. The undeclared ones (eight) include boar tusks

and antlers. There were also 151 pictures, most of them dealing with shikar.

Manavjit is in these pictures, Chandigarh Wildlife Warden and Inquiry Officer

(io) HS Sidhu told TEHELKA.

With Manavjit turning 31 this year, any picture of his with the kills must

date to when the shooter was 16 because of the all-India ban on hunting that was

imposed in 1991-92. Any hunting since then can be undertaken only on special

permit for killing either wild animals declared vermin or man-eater. However,

Manavjit’s pictures show him to be more than 16 years old. " The evidence is very

strong. However, I have deputed Sidhu to undertake the inquiry. There has been a

delay. I have asked Sidhu to submit a preliminary inquiry report by this month.

I have also asked him to seize any wildlife articles declared by Gurbir if he

thinks that they are fresh and may have been due to poaching. I have directed

him to also identify each and every person in the photos. We have summoned

Gurbir twice and have directed him to appear again on August 21,? Chandigarh

Chief Wildlife Warden (CWW) Ishwar Singh said.

Despite the CBI handing over the articles to the Chandigarh wildlife

department and sending a report of the seizure to the CBI hq, the department has

done its best to thwart the probe. " Under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972,

any seizure of illegal wildlife articles dictates that the wildlife officers

confiscate the property and bring it to the notice of the Chandigarh Chief

Judicial Magistrate by lodging a complaint. Even the persons found in possession

of the illegal articles can be sent to judicial remand. The case has then to be

investigated and challaned. An offence under the Act for animals covered under

Schedule iii and iv can entail imprisonment of three years or a fine upto Rs

25,000, a senior wildlife officer told TEHELKA. However, in the Sandhus case,

the inquiry is moving at a snail’s pace and even a preliminary report has not

been prepared. The video clips have yet not been opened by the io. Though

Manavjit figures in most pictures, he has not been

called for an explanation. Gurbir is known as a high-flyer with contacts among

top politicians and bureaucrats.

When asked about the delay, Sidhu said: " I have a work overload. The witnesses

in the case do not appear. Also, I had to go to England twice for marriages in

my brother's family. Asked as to why Manavjit had not been summoned, he said:

" I have not studied the pictures carefully. " When TEHELKA asked him for the

incriminating pictures, Sidhu refused. " The case is under investigation, " he

said. This apart, the Sandhus are in trouble over the wildlife articles declared

by them under the immunity scheme. The scheme declared by the Union ministry of

environment and forests in 2003 termed Declaration of Wildlife Stock Rules 2003

stipulates that only articles falling under Schedule i and Part ii of Schedule

II of the Act can be granted an ownership certificate. However, most of the 25

articles declared by Gurbir are ineligible as these fall under Schedule iii and

iv. When Sidhu was asked as to how these were declared by Gurbir, he said: " I

don't want to comment. "

While Manavjit could not be contacted as he was in Cyprus, Gurbir said he was

" explaining everything to the Chandigarh administration. There is no hush-up. I

am cooperating. I have declared the articles and that shows my honourable

intentions. Manavjit is not involved in any poaching. "

Asked about the pictures with Manavjit with the kills and trophies, Gurbir

said: " The one of a dead leopard and Manavjit was taken in Karnataka, where a

permit was issued to shoot the man-eater that had killed 11 kids. That was seven

to eight years back. There are pictures of Manavjit with hunting trophies in

Brunei’s Rifle Club, which is, again, not an offence. "

When Gurbir’s attention was drawn to the pictures in India showing numerous

boars and deer, Gurbir said: " I do not remember all the pictures but Manavjit is

not involved in poaching at all. As far as my pictures with dead boars are

concerned, I am going to justify these. " He added, " Some of these are 15-20

years old. "

However, the CWW told TEHELKA: " I am satisfied with the explanation with

regard to only one picture, the man-eating leopard one. The rest they will have

to justify, otherwise it will go against them. " The CWW also said that since the

case had inter-state ramifications, he was considering handing it over to the

Union ministry for a thorough probe. Gurbir sought to justify the " non-declared "

wildlife articles recovered by the CBI as a result of a " counting error " . Gurbir

claimed that he had declared them in 2003 and that there must have been some

mistake then.

However, Gurbir’s explanation is on a sticky wicket as each and every wildlife

article declared before the Chandigarh administration in 2003 was photographed

four times and whose details were put down in an elaborate format. The

possibility of boar tusks and deer antlers being miscounted is virtually zero.

" I have asked Sidhu to prepare a list of all the articles declared and

non-declared. I have also directed him to classify the articles according to the

Schedules of the Wildlife Protection Act, " said the CWW.

 

Writer’s e-mail: vjs

 

http://www.tehelka.com/story_main33.asp?filename=Ne250807poaching.asp

Tehelka .com Magzine Aug 25, 2007

 

Dr.Sandeep K.Jain