Atleast five army jawans participating in an exercise in the Indo-Pak border have been found to have hunted chinkara for meat. After being informed by villagers, officials from the state forest department rushed to the army camp and recovered the severed heads of the gazelles besides the uncooked meat. The officials also recovered the vehicle used in the hunting, which had bloodstains on it. The jawans fled the camp when the officials conducted the raid. They have been booked under sections 9 to 51 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, facing a maximum punishment of seven years with financial penalties. Locals have been long complaining about army officers hunting endangered species. With evidence now, senior army officers are expected to look into the complaint. The chinkara is a schedule 1 species in the Wildlife Protection Act.
CI is a non-profit, non-commercial portal that aims to facilitate wildlife and nature conservation by providing reliable information and the tools needed to campaign effectively.
