720 rare birds freed from poachers

Karnal, February 24 Hundreds of Chakors, rare birds, were today freed from poachers by the Karnal police following the intervention of an NGO — People for Animals.

Baskets full of Chakors, which were seized at Karnal on Tuesday.
— Photo by Kulwinder Sandhu

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720 rare birds freed from poachers
Tribune News Service

Karnal, February 24
Hundreds of Chakors, rare birds, were today freed from poachers by the Karnal police following the intervention of an NGO — People for Animals. These birds were being transported from Allahabad to Punjab, Haryana and Jammu & Kashmir. Police sources said five persons were arrested under Sections 11, 59 and 60 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act-1960 in this regard.

As many as 720 rare birds were found in miserable condition from a truck. The NGO had helped to keep the birds in a local farm till the court trial against the poachers was completed, said Mr Naresh Kumar Kadyan, Chairman of the state unit of the People for Animals. “We will try to provide full security to the birds”, he added.

Trafficking in wildlife, including birds and products made from them was banned under laws. But with due to the laxity of enforcement, poaching and illegal trafficking continued to be a major problem in the area, he said.

The police sources said during the preliminary investigations the persons arrested from the truck had been identified as Hari Lal, Nankayu, Phool Chand, Ram Chand and Kamlesh. They all belonged to Allahabad district in Uttar Pradesh.

During the interrogations, they revealed that the birds were to be supplied at various farm houses in Punjab, Haryana and J&K. A senior official of the local police said the matter would be investigated thoroughly and investigation teams would be sent to the farm houses for further investigations into the violation of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act-1960.