3 held for ‘poaching’ chinkara near Gir forest in Amreli

Zala said that later on Mathasuriya’s friends Jayesh Vaghela, a resident of Dalkhaniya and Nimbha Vaghela, a resident of Kotda village, were arrested after their role in the crime came to light.

“The three accused had set traps with an intent to hunt some small game mammals like hare and have a feast later on. However, instead of such small mammals, a foal of chinkara was trapped in the net and died. On Wednesday morning, when the hunters checked their traps, they found the chinkara foal in the trap and carried it to Mathasuriya’s home,” Rafik Sida, range forest officer (RFO) of Paniya said.

Chinkara has been included on Schedule-I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and its hunting can lead up to seven years of imprisonment.

“We have arrested the three men after booking them under the Wildlife (Protection) Act for hunting a Schedule-I species,” Sida further said.