Four in custody for hunting endangered rabbits in forest area of Purandar
Officials booked them under sections of violating the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and trespassing into forest reserve
The Saswad court has remanded four persons, including three brothers, to police custody till January 27 for hunting endangered species of rabbit in the forest area of Purandar.
The accused have been identified as Maruti Shinde (22), Ajay Maruti Shinde (22), Akash Maruti Shinde (20) and Sunil Shinde (22), all residents of Saswad and hailing from Ahmednagar district.
They were arrested with dead rabbits in the forest area by the Purandar forest officials. The forest department officials booked them under sections of violating the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and trespassing into forest reserve, and handed them over to the police after which they were arrested.
Forest department officer Jayshree Jadhav said, “Hunting endangered species is a crime and strict action will be taken against the violators.”