National shooter gets life ban for hunting endangered animals

The endangered blackbuck

National shooter Saad Khan and shooter Mohammad Owais have been issued life bans by the Bhopal Rifle Club for their involvement in the hunting of a blackbuck and a peacock.

Khan and two of his companions were arrested from Kathpon village in Sehore district of Madhya Pradesh for their illegal act. All of them have been booked under the provisions of Wildlife Protection Act 1972 and Arms Act.

“State body cannot entertain such people. Our constitution is very clear as anyone involved in criminal activity cannot continue with the club,” director of Bhopal Rifle Club, Aruneshwar Singhdeo was quoted as saying by TOI.

Singhdeo further said that the executive committee of the club would decide whether to lift the ban or not depending on whether the court clears them.

The Bhopal Rifle club oversees all amateur shooting in Madhya Pradesh.

Khan and his accomplice were caught when the villagers were stopping vehicles in order to collect Holi donations. On stopping Khan’s vehicle, they noticed a rifle and the skinned bodies of a dead blackbuck and a peacock. Enraged, the villagers forced the three out of the vehicle and beat them up.

Later, imported rifles and live cartridges were recovered by the police from the vehicle in which the trio was travelling.

All the three of them have been remanded to two days’ police custody.