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Journalism of Courage
A hunting trip to a forest in Maharashtra’s Palghar district last week turned tragic after one of a group of 12 people ended up shooting dead a friend of theirs, mistaking him for a wild boar, police said.
The incident remained under wraps for a few days until the victim’s wife lodged a missing-person complaint with the police on Monday, leading to the arrest of eight people. An officer said the police were searching for the others, who are on the run.
Balasaheb Patil, Superintendent of Police, Palghar, said that the group, consisting of members from an adivasi community in Borsheti village of Shahapur taluka, went to the nearby forest to hunt for wild boars on the evening of January 28. They also invited their friend Ramesh Vartha, who agreed to join them the next morning.
“The next day, as Vartha was walking towards the spot where they were staying, his friends, while searching for wild boars, saw some plants moving. Suspecting it to be an animal, they shot in that direction, inadvertently killing Vartha,” Patil told The Indian Express.
Realising what had happened, the group panicked, hid the body behind a tree and left the forest, deciding not to inform anyone about the incident.
For the first two-three days, Vartha’s family suspected he was still in the forest, as the group typically stayed there for several days. However, when he did not return after a few more days, Vartha’s wife Amitha approached the local Manor police station. She informed the police that her husband had gone hunting with his friends but had not come back.
The police then summoned Vartha’s friends for questioning. Initially, they claimed that Vartha had returned with them the next day. However, during separate interrogations, one of them broke down and revealed that Sagar Hadal, who was with them in the forest, had shot his country-made rifle in the direction of Vartha, assuming there was a wild boar, leading to his death.
Vartha’s body was subsequently recovered from the forest and an FIR was registered against the 12 people on charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
Patil clarified that only one person died in the incident, dispelling rumours in the village that another person was in the forest. “We have verified the death of another person in the village who died elsewhere from natural causes and is not linked to this case in any way,” he said.
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