Mumbai: The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court recently rejected the anticipatory bail application of a man who was allegedly involved in poaching a barking deer.
A single-judge bench of Justice S.B. Shukre was hearing a complaint filed by forest officials against one Vasanta Rathod.
Earlier this year, forest officials were patrolling the reserved forest area in Umerkhand, off Nanded Road, and came across some men carrying two gunny bags. On questioning them, the men, except one Dinesh Jadhav, fled from the spot. The forest officials detained Jadhav and searched the gunny bags. They found two carcasses of barking deer, a Schedule III animal under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, and animal traps. Jadhav told the forest officials he and his accomplices had hunted the barking deer. A case was registered against them.
The forest officials informed the court they had seen Rathod run away and that there was sufficient evidence of his involvement in the crime. Rathod was also involved in a wildlife offence earlier, but had been acquitted.
The court said that given the endangered status of the animal, the crime prima facie committed by Rathod was serious, and that granting him anticipatory bail may hamper the investigation.
