JAIPUR: Black buck poaching in state may have cost Salman Khan dear, but killing them seems to be a routine chore for Mongya tribe residing on the border villages of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. The tribesmen allegedly kill these animals for food and witchcraft and sell their body parts to smugglers.
The special operations group (SOG) arrested two poachers for killing a leopard recently and conducted raids at their houses leading to startling revelations. They seized body parts of many wild animals like black buck, chausinga (four-horned antelope), deer, sambar', mongoose, rohi' (hedgehog) and wild pig. The two accused had allegedly killed another leopard 5-6 years back.
The SOG had arrested six persons in connection with selling panther skin from near Sanganer airport. On the basis of the information, they arrested the duo Sardar and his father Badram Mongya from Bhanpur village under Kasba police station area in Baran district for killing the leopard and selling it to the smugglers.
"When a team was sent to the village situated in a densely forest area inhabited by Mongya tribe, we found all the huts empty there. The tribesmen had fled the village fearing arrest as they knew that Sardar and Badram had been arrested," said an SOG official.
The team then searched Badram's house and found the horns of two black bucks, one of a chausinga, eight of deer and one of a sambar as well as the tail of a zarakh' (hyna), the jaws, bones and hair of mongoose and the teeth of wild pig, among many other body parts of other animals.
"The accused used to kill these animals for food and sell their body parts to smugglers sometimes. The Mongya tribesmen also use them for witchcraft. Apart from the skin which was recovered recently, they had sold a leopard skin 5-6 years back also," said the official.
SOG IG Umesh Mishra said that the accused used to build machan' near Kuno river, a tributary of Chambal, and kill the wild animals who came there to drink water using country-made guns. SOG seized one such gun from Badram's house.
According to the SOG officials, the tribe people eat raw meat of wild animals as they consider cooking it inauspicious.
The SOG had arrested Brajmohan, Hemraj, Tusli, Surajmal, Paras Jain and Rohit from near Sanganer airport on March 22 when they were trying to sell a panther skin kept in a Tavero car. Brajmohan and Hemraj had bought the skin from the poachers and sold it to others who were planning to sell it for Rs 12 lakh to a client.
