Maneka joins punish Sangai killers chorus
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, February 09 2013 :
Reacting sharply against the recent killing of a brow-antlered deer, locally known as Sangai, at Keibul Lamjao National Park in Manipur's Bishnupur district by two poachers, People for Animals (PFA) India chair-person Maneka Gandhi said the two should be given the severest punishment the law allows.
Also known as 'dancing deer', Sangai fall under Schedule I (a list of the most endangered animal species of the nation) under the Wildlife Protection Act (WPA).
The population of the rare deer as recorded in 2003 was 180 .
Manipur forest guards caught poachers L Kripa and H Lukhoi red-handed while they were dressing the meat on a Sangai carcass at Keibul Lamjao, the biggest floating park in the world, last week.
On Wednesday, chief judicial magistrate (Bishnupur), while rejecting the bail application filed by the two, remanded them to judicial custody for 15 days.
In a letter sent to PFA Thoubal, Maneka said the poachers should be jailed for as many years as the law allows as murder is a heinous crime and the murder of a rare species is even more heinous.
PFA Thoubal informed Maneka that the shocking incident occurred just a few days after its wildlife campaign was launched.
In a reply letter written by PFA's managing trustee, Lourembam Biswajeet Meitei, the animal rights group from Manipur emphasized the need to amend the WPA and its penalties to ensure the culprits do not dare repeat such a crime in future.
During an undercover survey conducted by PFA members around Keibul Lamjao, it was revealed that Sangai meat was served at a wedding party a few years ago in the area, Biswajeet said.
The hunters had coined a code name for Sangai meat 'phum hawai'.
Capturing a Sangai in the park is not a difficult task as the deer can be trapped with just a piece of rope with a loop at one end.
Biswajeet said Environmental Social Reformation and Sangai Protection Forum, an NGO, was after the two hunters for years but it failed to get any solid evidence against them.
"We are happy that in the latest case, the hunters have been caught.
They should be punished severely according to the law," he added.