Duo caught selling 30kg of wild boar meat

MARGAO: Working on a tip-off since the last one week, forest department officials on Friday arrested a father-son duo in the process of selling wild boar meat opposite the Kadamba bus terminus in Margao. The officials, attached to the deputy conservator of forestsoffice, also attached a cement bag containing the 30 kg of wild boar meat, twoscooters used to transport the meat, 32 locally made bombs used for hunting, andhalf-a-kilo of explosive material from the duo's residence. Some traps used tohunt birds and rabbits were also attached.The accused and his minorson are residents of Gothan in Sidhanagar, Cuncolim, and have been arrestedunder Section 9 of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972."Wereceived information a week ago that wild boar meat is being brought to Goa inprivate buses plying on the Goa-Bijapur (Karnataka) route," said FranciscoAraujo, officiating deputy conservator of forests. "We kept a closewatch on the route and the accused. At 9.30am on Friday, we confirmed that theduo possessed the wild boar meat and have started distribution," he said.The forest department team checked the contents of the cement bagcarried by the duo and found wild boar meat packed in small packets of about 1kg each. Some packets of wild boar meat were also stored in thehelmet compartments of the two scooters, prompting the vehicles to be attachedas well, said Araujo.On questioning, the duo revealed where theylived and officials proceeded to raid their home, where they found 32 locallymade bombs and half-a-kilo of explosive material used to make suchbombs."The attached wild boar meat weighs 30 kg and was brought fromBijapur in a private bus," said Araujo. "The meat was unloaded fromthe bus at 5.30am. Some meat had already been sold by the time we conducted theraid. We have details of the purchasers and action will be taken against them inthe course of the investigation," he added.In fact, forest officialsfound that the accused's cellphone was constantly abuzz with inquiries duringthe raid. Sources said the numbers have been traced and the callers will beshortly identified."We recently took action against many individualsand restaurants serving wild boar meat. We would like to make it clear thatselling, serving and consuming wild animal meat is a criminal offence underSection 9 of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act. If convicted, an accused willhave to undergo imprisonment for up to three years, or pay a fine of ` 25,000,or both," said Araujo.Friday's raiding forest team was led by rangeforester Anand Mestri and assisted by forest guards Reis Magos Dias, SamarthNaik, Kirtimala Gaonker and Manoj Naik.