Nainital’s Butterfly Man under siege

BHIMTAL, OCTOBER 16: Years ago, travel writer Bruce Chatwin wrote his Song Lines here. These days, Cottage No. 11, June Estate in Bhimtal ...

BHIMTAL, OCTOBER 16: Years ago, travel writer Bruce Chatwin wrote his Song Lines here. These days, Cottage No. 11, June Estate in Bhimtal in Nainital district has less welcome visitors: armed men in uniform who’ve allegedly illegally occupied the house even as its owner Frederick Smetacek Jr, lies bedridden inside.

Smetacek, a German ecologist whose collection of insects, butterflies and moths is said to be the largest private collection in India, says that the armed men have been camping at the annexe of his home since October 4. They claim that the main house in which Smetacek lives, just ten yards away from the annexe, belongs to their employer, Dharmendra Pratap Singh, the Maharaja of Balrampur (Western UP). Smetacek, who was born and brought up here, has been immobilised because of a broken hip for over an year.

Smetacek says he has documentary evidence to show that he’s been living here, including ownership papers, electricity bills, water connection charges and house tax receipts dating back to 1980. In addition, guests who have stayed in the house after May, dispute the claim.

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Dharmendra Singh, who’s also the President of the UP chapter of the World Wildlife Fund-India, claims that the bungalow actually belongs to him, and that his men had been living there since May. One of his employees, D.B. Singh, said, “We do not see the need to show our papers”.

The administration insists it’s a “land dispute” between two parties. The local police say they can’t do anything since the area is under the jurisdiction of the local patwari, Mahesh Lal. District Magistrate Aradhana Shukla said Smetacek had spoken to her, and that she’s asked the police to ensure that `law and order is being maintained’. “I have to check on whose house it is after all,” she said.

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