Licensed gun used in cheetah killing recovered; two brothers arrested: MP govt
Licensed gun used in cheetah killing recovered; two brothers arrested: MP govt Bhopal/Sheopur, Nov 2 (IANS) Two brothers have been arrested for allegedly shooting a 19-month-old male cheetah in Madhya Pradesh’s Sheopur district, and the licensed gun used in the incident has been recovered from a forest area in neighbouring Morena district, the Forest Department’s Special Task Force (STF) said on Monday.
The accused, identified as Bhagwan Singh and Pritam Singh, were arrested during the investigation into the death of cheetah KNG-22, which was found seriously injured in the territorial forests of Sheopur on October 25. According to an official statement, Bhagwan Singh, a resident of Navalpura-Behrara village in Morena district, was arrested on October 31. During interrogation, he allegedly disclosed that he and his brother had gone hunting in the forest near Nitanwas village in Vijaypur on October 24.
“On spotting the cheetah in the area, he fired at it with his licensed double-barrel muzzle-loading gun and fled from the spot,” the statement said. Acting on the information provided by Bhagwan Singh, the STF, with the assistance of Morena Police, also took his brother Pritam Singh into custody.
Both accused were taken to the suspected crime scene for identification, and the firearm used in the shooting was recovered from the Morena forest area during their identification. The STF said a four-member team comprising forest and police officials was constituted by the state government to investigate the incident. The team developed an informer network and conducted search operations with the assistance of a dog squad.
It also collected information with the help of Morena Police and the forest divisions of Sheopur and Morena. A case has been registered against both accused under Sections 9 and 51 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, as amended in 2022. “During the investigation conducted so far, no involvement of any commercial illegal wildlife trade or organised wildlife crime gang has been found in this case,” the statement said.
Notably, KNG-22, a male cheetah born to female cheetah Nirva at Kuno National Park, was rescued from forest compartment number 748 in Sheopur on October 25 after being found in an injured condition. It was initially taken to Kuno and later shifted to Nanaji Deshmukh Veterinary Science University in Jabalpur for specialised treatment. During emergency surgery, veterinarians recovered five firearm pellets from its body.
Despite medical treatment, the cheetah died on October 27. The Centre had also deputed a three-member team comprising officials of the National Tiger Conservation Authority and the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau to investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident and examine the protection measures for cheetahs under Project Cheetah. The incident has raised concerns over the safety of cheetahs moving outside the protected areas of Kuno National Park.
