Three poachers nabbed in Punjab

Hoshiarpur, Feb 15 (UNI) Three poachers have been arrested in two separate cases of poaching, N S Randhawa, Divisional Forest Officer, Wild Life, stated here.

All the accused were yesterday produced in the court of Mr Harbans Singh Lekhi where they were remanded in judicial custody till February 24, 2007, he said.

A team of Wild Life Division, on a tip-off, raided the house of Feem Ram of Tahli Mohalla, Janauri and seized a carcass of wild boar, a protected animal killing which could invoke an imprisonment up to 3 years or a fine of Rs 25,000, or both.

During interrogation, Feem Ram confessed that he, along with his accomplice Gurmail Singh of the same village, had killed the wild boar with the help of a mechanical wire trap.

Both the accused were arrested under section 9, 39 of the Wild Life (Protection) Act 1972.

In another incident, a raid party arrested Kishore, a resident of Khepran, for killing a wildcat, another protected animal whose hunting is punishable with imprisonment of 3 to 7 years and also with a fine which shall not be less than Rs 10,000, he said. The meat of the wildcat was also recovered from him.

UNI