A shocking news, people held a rally inside Wildlife sanctuary.

Rally in wildlife sanctuary kills deer, one held
Subhash Chandra N S, June 28, Bangalore:

The Forest Department and police have arrested an individual who illegally organised a motor rally through the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary, leading to the death of a spotted deer.

Jayadas Menon, a 41-year-old resident of Bangalore who organised the rally was arrested and produced before Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC), Kanakapura. He has been remanded to judicial custody.

A spotted deer stag was killed due to reckless driving by Khushwanth Randhawa, one of the rally participants on June 8, 2010 near Muthathi inside the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary.

The vehicle driven by Randhawa was seized by the Kanakapura Wildlife Division staff. However the accused fled to Patiala after killing the animal. A forest offence case (FOC 3/09-10) was booked against 10 persons including the driver and the organisers. All accused were absconding till date.

On the day of the accident, the rally organiser Menon had claimed that he had permission to organise the rally within the sanctuary. When the forest staff demanded the written copy of the permission, he not only failed to furnish it, but also fled the spot.

The rally was organised between Bangalore and Kochi. The first phase of it fell within the wildlife sanctuary.

Acting on a tip off, the Forest Department staff led by Assistant Conservator of Forests (ACF) Mr.Ravi Raj, Range Forest Officer (RFO) Kempe Gowda, Guards Manju and Chandru with assistance from Deputy Conservator of Forests (DCF) of Bangalore Squad Kumaraswamy, arrested Menon on Monday at his residence. He is now in judicial custody.

Menon has been booked under The Wild Life Protection Act 1972 Sections 9
(Prohibition of killing of wildlife) , Section 27 (Trespassing into wildlife sanctuary) and Section 51(Penalty clauses punishment which extends up to three years).
The case of roadkills is equivalent to poaching and is a non-bailable offence.

Pressure on officials
Sources in the Forest Department said that there is high level pressure to release the accused.
This incident brings to light the need for closing night time traffic in all key wildlife sanctuaries and national parks in Karnataka.
Cauvery wildlife sanctuary is a dry habitat and one of the biggest one in the State. Bordering Tamil Nadu, the sanctuary is known for its high density of four horned antelopes. It also hosts huge stretch of river Cauvery, which has a sizeable population of otters and masheers (protected fish).

DH News Service

Link - http://www.deccanherald.com/content/...ills-deer.html