Umeshsingh Jhire had helped the forest department expose Ravisingh alias 'Chaptya' Patwa for poaching a bluebull. He had tipped off forest officials about the poacher in Mul forest range on June 28. The tip off had led to the seizure of 55kg of meat along with poaching tools. The animal was gunned down by the poacher and was being chopped for sale when Patwa's house was raided.
"There were some staffers in the raiding team linked with Patwa. Even as he was caught with the bluebull's meat, they allowed him to flee with the gun used in the poaching and pretended he had already escaped before the raid. The staffers conniving with Patwa also exposed my name as informer to him," alleged Jhire.
Patwa was roaming in Mul town for over 20 days after the raid, but forest officials never tried to arrest him despite knowing it, he alleged. "Now that he has got some relaxation from court, he is indirectly issuing threats to me," Jhire said.
Jhire, who is a snake-lover and wildlife activist, alleged that poaching has been rampant in jungles of Mul by Patwa and his gang since over two years. "He is an expert in hunting and uses trained dogs or muzzle loading guns (bharmar) for poaching. He has a network of accomplices in the villages, which helps in selling the meat of the poached animal. He poaches three to four animals every week," Jhire said. Read the full report here.
Source: Times News Network, Chandrapur.
