Amid international migratory birds starting to land at Banni grassland in Kutch for the approaching winter, the police have arrested a poacher and booked three others for allegedly hunting two common cranes and a blue bull from near Chhari Dhand – a wetland famous for congregation of migratory birds. Acting on a tip-off, a team of Nirona police was scanning Kajarvishan Rann near Chhari Dhand in Banni grassland when they spotted a gypsy in the desert near Sarada village on Sunday. As per an FIR registered at Nirona police station late Sunday, those in the vehicle attempted to speed away after spotting the police car. However, the gypsy got stuck in mud in the adjoining Shervo village. The FIR said that the four poachers in the gypsy abandoned their vehicle and started running away. However, the police managed to get hold of one, Saleman Maman (33), along with a countrymade shotgun. Sub-Inspector Hardeepsin Parmar of Nirona police said on Tuesday, “Upon inspecting the gypsy, we found carcasses of a blue bull and two common cranes.” Based on a complaint filed by Constable Swaraj Gadhvi, who was part of the police team that chased the poachers, an offence was registered under Arms Act. Besides Saleman, a resident of Nana Varnora village in Bhuj taluka, the FIR names his distant relative Jabar Mer of Nana Varnora and friends Javed Gagada and Izaz Maman – both residents of Bhuj town. “Saleman is a casual labourer and had faced cases under Arms Act, gambling Act and other bodily offences. He gave the names of the three other accused and claimed that they poached the blue bull and two cranes for self-consumption. He couldn’t produce any license to keep arms and therefore, the four were booked under Arms Act, while the forest department has registered a separate offence of poaching,” Parmar said. A court in Nakhatrana town of Kutch sent Saleman to three-day police remand on Monday. “The three others are on the run and efforts are being made to arrest them,” Parmar added. Banni's Deputy Conservator of Forests, Bharat Patel, said that a first offence report (FOR) has been lodged against the four men at Sarado range office of Banni forest division. “We are told they poached the animal and birds from Chhari Dhand conservation reserve, which falls in Tuga Luna range. However, as the accused was arrested from near Shervo in Sarada range, the FOR has been registered at Sarada, which doesn’t include 2,270 hectare of Chhari Dhand conservation reserve. But if investigation establishes that the poaching was done from inside the conservation reserve, we will proceed accordingly,” Patel said. Chhari Dhand, a natural lake, attracts international migratory birds from central Asia, who escape the harsh winter there and land in warmer climes of western India, including Kutch. “The grassland and wetland provide cranes food and space for resting during winter. Migratory cranes have started arriving in Banni since mid-October," Patel said.
