The strong arm of the law finally caught up with a retired Indian Army colonel and his national-level shooting champion son for training their guns on protected wildlife. In a joint raid operation that lasted 17 hours at the duo's residence in Meerut's Civil Lines area, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) and the forest department on Sunday claimed to have smashed a cartel of poaching, wildlife hunting and arms smuggling.
Col (retd) Devindra Kumar and his son Prashant Bishnoi, a trained shooter, now face a slew of charges under wildlife protection act and gunrunning. Local residents told Mail Today the father-son duo led a lavish lifestyle with a fleet of luxury vehicles and collection of guns.
POLICE RAIDS
The raiding team recovered a large haul of animal skins, antlers, trophy heads, ivory, over 40 unlicenced guns, Rs1 crore in cash and 117 kilogram of neelgai (blue bull) meat from the premises.
"Who could have thought of such illegal activity here? There is a woman police station nearby and a DIG living barely 500 metre away," said a local resident, requesting anonymity. Apparently, they duo had also installed CCTV cameras on the street leading to their house and at the entry point.
While Devindra Kumar is believed to have told the police and raiding party that the guns belonged to his son, police sources said he was tightlipped about the recovery of animal parts on his premises.
REVELATIONS
While members of the search team shunned the media, sources in the DRI and wildlife department said the next round of investigation will establish the supply chain for the animal parts and the illegal arms found from the house.
Wildlife officials have hinted the involvement of a foreign national as the main accused running "a poaching syndicate" in which Kumar and Bishnoi acted as influential clogs due to their official positions.
The support staff and visiting maid, who were questioned by the raiding party, also refused to speak to mediapersons gathered outside the Kumar's house.
Mail Today also tried to speak to relatives of Singh as well as his son's shooting colleagues but to little avail.
Meanwhile, chief conservator of forests Mukesh Kumar issued a statement saying that the meat recovered from the refrigerator at Singh's Meerut residence will be sent for laboratory tests.
"A sample was taken and it will be sent to laboratory for testing. Action will be taken against Singh and his Son under relevant provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972."
The case comes at a time when Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath has tightened the leash on illegal slaughtering of animals and unauthorised meat trade in the state.
Interestingly, Bishnois are regarded as crusaders for protection of animals. The community was in the limelight for fighting the case against killing of blackbuck by Bollywood celebrities in Rajasthan.
