News-THE TIMES OF INDIA

Poacher, aides held with peacock carcass

KANPUR: A poacher and his two aides were arrested in Gurdahi village in Sikandara area of Ramabainagar district on Wednesday for killing a peacock, the national bird. A carcass of the bird was also seized from them.

According to the police, the arrested man admitted that he and his gang members had been killing peacocks for over several years for its meat and feathers.

The accused, who reportedly killed the peacock, were spotted by some villagers who managed to nab one of them. He was identified as Chandan, son of Sipahi Lal. He was severely thrashed by the locals and handed over to the a police team patrolling in the area. Later, the police arrested two of his aides while other two managed to give the police a slip.

"Chandan, son of Sipahi Lal of Kanjar tribe, who had killed the peacock along with his two other aides Akhilesh Kanjar and Babu Kanjar was arrested from Gurdahi village on Wednesday," a police official, D P Shukla, told TOI.

A case under Sections 9/91 of the Wildlife Protection Act, that deals with hunting and killing of wild animals, has been registered against them.

The peacock is protected under Section 51 (1-A), Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, and its hunting and killing is strictly prohibited. However, its feathers and fat, used in the treatment of arthritis, fetch a good money.

The accused have been booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Wildlife Protection Act, Shukla added. Meanwhile, the locals informed that unauthorized killing of peacocks by people of `Kanjar' tribe was on for a long time in the area. A villager of Gurdahi village, who tipped-ff the police after witnessing the killing of a peacock on Wednesday, explained their trapping tricks.

What the act says:
The peacock is protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. Section 9 of the Act prohibits hunting of wild animals and birds specified in Schedule I, II, and III and IV. This classification has been made keeping in mind the significance and population of wildlife. Those highly threatened find a place in Schedule I. Section 51 of the Act prescribes a maximum imprisonment of six years, Rs 25,000 fine or both for hunting animals and birds specified on Schedule I.Wildlife department officials said even though the punitive measures under law are exhaustive, the enforcement is very poor. A case is registered under the Wildlife Protection Act but it never reaches a court of law because of lack of evidence. Even if the case reaches court, the lack of awareness about Wildlife Act provisions invariably results in miscarriage of justice.