Blackbuck poaching cases in MP crawling since 1972

BHOPAL: The conviction and imprisonment of Salman Khan on Thursday has boosted the morale of Madhya Pradesh forest department, which is struggling with sluggish trials of 135 blackbuck poaching casesin the last 36 years.

Bhopal circle has the lion’s share of 46 cases — 15 of them between 2013 and 2015. Convictions are, however, few and far between — not even 5%, as per official figures. “The judgment in the Salman Khan poaching case will certainly boost morale of our department. This is going to have a great impact on cases that are under trial,” said Ritesh Sirothia, assistant conservator of forest.

“Bhopal has registered five cases of blackbuck poaching in the last two months. Other cases were reported from Seoni, Betul, Hoshangabad, Sehore, Raisen and Vidisha districts,” said an officer of the state’s wildlife cell. Once found in abundance, black buck has registered a steady decline in population due to unbridled poaching.

Endowed with rich wildlife in its jungles, stretching across four districts, Bhopal circle had healthy populations of all varieties of deer. Shikaar has been outlawed for decades, but in Bhopal, ‘shikaris’ are still aplenty. In spite of tough antihunting laws, there is no dearth of Bhopalis whose meat fetish goes beyond chicken and lamb and who still think of hunting as sport. Sadly, very few of them are convicted, said sources in the forest department.

Forest officials, police and informers who have come across these hunters say the risk of jail doesn’t deter them.