Three held in Chhattisgarh after Instagram video shows monitor lizard hunt, eaten

Three men were arrested in Dantewada after an Instagram video allegedly showed them killing, cooking and eating a monitor lizard, a Schedule I species.

Three men were arrested on Thursday under the Wildlife Protection Act after a hunting video allegedly showing them killing, cooking and eating a monitor lizard was widely shared on Instagram in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada district, forest officials said.

Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada forest officials arrested three men after a viral Instagram video allegedly showed them hunting and eating a monitor lizard.

Forest department officials traced the men after the video went viral, using the motorcycle registration number visible in the Instagram account’s display picture as a key lead.

Bacheli Ranger Pritesh Pandey said the accused were identified as Hunga, 30, Kosa Payam, 39, and Nanda Ram Oyami, 36, all residents of Khutepal village in Kuakonda block of the district.

According to forest officials, the three had gone into the forest about a week ago to graze cattle when they spotted the monitor lizard. They allegedly caught and killed it and filmed the hunt. The video was uploaded on Instagram a few days later.

Once the footage came to the department’s notice, officials began tracking the account. Forest officials seized three banda weapons and two bows and arrows allegedly used in the hunt.

The three have been booked under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. The monitor lizard is listed under Schedule I of the Act, and hunting a protected species can attract a prison term of three to seven years.

The accused were produced before a Dantewada court on Thursday.