NRI from US arrested for ‘hunting’ wild boar, a Schedule II list animal, ‘possessing’ meat, lab test to confirm species: Officials

The department seized five air guns and 11 nets from the accused person’s residence in Sector 35, Chandigarh, Forest and Wildlife Department sources said.

Animals on the Schedule II list in the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, are provided with high protection, with their trade prohibited. They cannot be hunted except in specific cases, like a threat to human life or an incurable disease.

Meanwhile, the accused, Jaspreet Singh Ghuman, lodged at the Model jail in Burail after being sent to judicial custody, has filed a bail application before a Chandigarh district court, which will be heard on October 27.

Department sources said upon receiving a complaint from an informer that a Sector 35 resident was involved in hunting an animal included in the Schedule List of the Wildlife Act, a team of the department, along with teams of the Chandigarh Police, the Health Department and the veterinary, conducted a search operation at the accused person’s house, and seized the meat, suspectedly of wild boar, air guns, pellets and nets.

Accused Ghuman was taken into custody and produced before a Chandigarh court, which sent him to judicial custody, sources said, adding that a case was registered under sections 9, 39, 40, 48-A, 49-B, 50, 51, and 57 of the Wildlife (Protection Act) 1972 based on the complaint of the Range Forest Officer of Chandigarh.

According to his bail application, Ghuman submitted, “I am an NRI from the US, and came to India 14 days ago. Before I arrived in India, the house was used by students and PG. The alleged recovery does not belong to me, as I never indulged in any kind of hunting. Moreover, the FIR only speaks about the suspected possession of meat of the Schedule-II wild pig and weapons from the house in Sector 35, Chandigarh.”

As per Ghuman’s bail application, “The laboratory report to confirm the seized meat as of a wild pig is yet to be received. I am innocent. I have not committed any offence and have falsely been implicated in the matter by the forest officer. There is no document or evidence to show that I was ever indulged in any kind of hunting…and the entire story by the forest officer is fabricated and false.”

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