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.
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. 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 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.
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. The three have been booked under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
The three had gone into the forest about a week ago to graze cattle when they spotted the monitor lizard, according to forest officials. The accused were produced before a Dantewada court on Thursday.
