Now peacocks are in peril

Though the exact cause of the birds8217; death will be known only after the post mortem report is out, the incident has stunned villagers, who came up with different theories to explain the death but were unanimous in maintaining their innocence.

All the carcasses were recovered from farms with banana plantations, to which peacocks are drawn for their cool shade.

Gujarat Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals GSPCA, however, alleged that the birds were poisoned by the 8220;powerful owner of a nursery8221; to which peacocks had reportedly posed a threat. GSPCA Secretary Snehal Bhatt claimed that a villager had confided in her about the involvement of the nursery owner.

Divisional Forest Officer R M Patel said the forest officials would conduct investigations on that line. Bhatt has sent copies of her findings to Patel and other authorities.

Patel said culprits could be sentenced to six month of rigorous imprisonment.

Many villagers had gathered at the farm of Mohanbhai Jadhav, from where a carcass was exhumed by forest officials. Jadhav and his brother maintained that they knew nothing about the carcass.

The villagers8217; fear quickly turned into anger at the 8220;informer8221; who, they said, had brought a bad name to their village. Sub-Inspector N V Patel said the village did not have a history of such crimes.

Ramsinh Rathod, a local politican, said the villagers would go after the informer who had tarnished the village8217;s name. He said he would lead a rally to Bhatt8217;s house to find out the informer8217;s name. 8220;We also want the culprits to be punished,8221; he added.

The villagers tried to attribute the deaths to a few tribal labourers who have been camping in the village for the last few days. A few even wondered whether the death could be part of a maili vidya sorcery ritual.