MUMBAI: A Meghalaya based man has been arrested under the
Wildlife Protection Act
, 1972, for posting photos online of a monkey that he had killed and later cooked and eaten it. The accused,
Sengkud Sangma
, from the West Garo Hills district, had shared the macabre photos of cooking and eating the monkey on Facebook last Friday.
A Mumbai based animal lover who happened to see this Facebook post, tagged the Mumbai based animal activists of
PETA India
, who then immediately swung into action.
"It was horrific to see online photos of how the dead monkey, which is a wildlife protected species, was cooked and then consumed. I contacted the district police officials and also the state forest department in Meghalaya. An FIR was immediately lodged, and on Sunday afternoon, the accused, Sangma, was arrested," said
Meet Ashar
of PETA India.
Ashar further added, "We thank the Meghalaya police officers who realized the gravity of this animal cruelty and immediately lodged the case and later arrested the accused. It is among the worst lot of wildlife crimes that we have come across this year."
Talking to TOI, the superintendent of police of West Garo Hills district,
Dr Raghavendra Kumar
, said, "We registered the FIR under sections 9 and 51 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. By using technical tools, we could trace the home address of the accused man, Sangma, and arrested him." The culprit who is in his late 20's is reportedly a student attached to a local college in Tura town in West Garo Hills district.