Use of dead child’s blood to trap leopard: CWC summons foresters in UP
The kid was killed by a leopard. Villagers said a forest ranger collected some of his blood and put it in a cage to lure the big cat.
lucknow Updated: Feb 08, 2018 14:35 IST
The Child Welfare Committee(CWC) of Moradabad has sought a report from a forest ranger who allegedly used the blood of a minor killed by a leopard to lure the animal in a cage. The ranger has been asked to submit his report by Monday. The committee has also summoned the ranger and the divisional forest officer regarding the matter.
- According to forest officials, the region is traversed by leopards from Amangarh Tiger Reserve located in Bijnor.
- The leopards find a likable habitat in thick sugarcane fields found in the area which leads to man-animal conflict.
- On the one hand, the sugarcane fields provide suitable habitat for leopards to hide and on the other, prevent forest officials from searching for the animals.
Reportedly, a 13-year-old Class 7 student of Bahadur Nagar village in Moradabad was mauled to death by a leopard on Thursday evening. The villagers alleged that a forest ranger Dinesh Sharma collected some blood oozing out of the open wounds of the deceased on a rag which was kept inside a trap cage to apparently lure the leopard.
Taking cognizance of this allegation, Gulzar Ahmed, chairman of CWC Moradabad, has summoned the forest ranger and the divisional forest officer(DFO) regarding the matter. “If the forest department has used the blood of a deceased child to lure an animal, it will surmount to disrespecting the dead. Such things are not allowed in standard procedures. We have asked the forest department to submit a written explanation of this matter,” Gulzar Ahmed said.
On the other hand, the forest officials have refuted the allegations made by the villagers.
“I have personally asked the officer concerned about the matter and he denied doing any such thing,” said DFO of Moradabad Kanhaiya Patel. “The officer told me that he only used some soil from the place (where the body of the boy was found) to lure the animal,” he added.
The DFO has further asked the forest ranger concerned to submit a report regarding the matter by Saturday. “We are yet to receive the summons from the CWC regarding the matter. But if we get one, we are in a position to defend the action of the forest ranger in this matter,” asserted the DFO.
Meanwhile in Bahadurnagar, with the assistance of local police, the forest officials are trying to capture the leopard who killed the minor boy.