Mahout fined for illegal possession of elephant calf
27 Dec 2012 12:17 AM GMT
A mahout, who was found in illegal possession of an elephant calf, was fined by a Delhi court while the rescued animal, which had a microchip affixed to its body to track its movement, was sent to Rajaji National Park.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate G N Pandey slapped a fine of Rs 20,000 on Zulfikar Ali and also made him stand in the court till its rising.
Ali was apprehended from Yamuna bank near ITO by a Wildlife Inspector on information given by animal rights group ‘People for Animal Activists’ that Ali had procured illegally an elephant from Bihar.
The wildlife inspector found that the elephant was transported from Assam to Bihar and was then brought to Delhi.
The recovered elephant was given to National Zoological Park where during its inspection a microchip was found affixed to its body. However, it was not clear who planted the microchip.
Thereafter, the pachyderm was shifted to Rajaji National Park on a plea made by the Wildlife department.
The court noted that Ali had produced documents showing permission to transport the elephant from Bihar to Delhi but the same was in the name of one Chidananda Hazarika.
The court, however, took a lenient view while awarding the sentence considering that Ali was a mahout by profession and had two more elephants with proper licence .
It also noted that the recovered elephant has already been sent to the national park and hence harsher sentence was not warranted.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate G N Pandey slapped a fine of Rs 20,000 on Zulfikar Ali and also made him stand in the court till its rising.
Ali was apprehended from Yamuna bank near ITO by a Wildlife Inspector on information given by animal rights group ‘People for Animal Activists’ that Ali had procured illegally an elephant from Bihar.
The wildlife inspector found that the elephant was transported from Assam to Bihar and was then brought to Delhi.
The recovered elephant was given to National Zoological Park where during its inspection a microchip was found affixed to its body. However, it was not clear who planted the microchip.
Thereafter, the pachyderm was shifted to Rajaji National Park on a plea made by the Wildlife department.
The court noted that Ali had produced documents showing permission to transport the elephant from Bihar to Delhi but the same was in the name of one Chidananda Hazarika.
The court, however, took a lenient view while awarding the sentence considering that Ali was a mahout by profession and had two more elephants with proper licence .
It also noted that the recovered elephant has already been sent to the national park and hence harsher sentence was not warranted.
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