4 held in peacock slaughter case

By Our Staff Reporter

KURNOOL, AUG. 23. Four persons who were accused of killing peacocks at Inagandla village in C.Belagal mandal of Kurnool district on Monday were arrested by the Divisional Forest Officer at Adoni, Mr. Nasiruddin, on Thursday. They were hiding in an isolated place near their village.

Earlier, the Forest Department had constituted special teams to nab them.

The Conservator of Forest, Mr. A.K. Jain, giving details about the incident, said four persons, identified as B. Timmappa, B. Peddaiah, B. Gokari and T. Timmappa, caught four peacocks and slaughtered them. On learning about it, forest teams rushed to the village, which witnessed an attempt to destroy evidence. The accused burnt the feathers, but the forest team recovered some unburnt remains.

Mr. Jain said about 30 birds had made the bushes near a tank, 2 km from the village, their home. Mr. Jain said the investigation so far had not confirmed celebration of any feast.

Peacock, a national bird, is listed in the Scheduled 1 and part 3 of Wild Life Protection Act, 1972. An adult bird weighs 1.5 kg.

Mr. Jain said though the birds were slaughtered unknowingly by the people who did not know about the implications of the act, the department would take stringent action.

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Section  : Southern States
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