UP shocker: 3 men bludgeon dolphin to death
THE MEN ATTACKED THE DOLPHIN WITH STICKS AND AXE. THEY WERE ARRESTED AND SENT TO JAIL
PRAYAGRAJ: Three men who beat a rare Gangetic Dolphin to death after it strayed into a canal in the Nawabganj area of Uttar Pradesh’s Pratapgarh district have been arrested and sent to jail by the police.
Some villagers caught the dolphin and brought it to shallow waters after the mammal strayed into the Sharda Canal on December 31 , said station house officer (SHO) of he Nawabganj police station, Akhilesh Singh.
“They attacked the dolphin with sticks and axe, resulting in its death on the spot. Some persons had even made a video of the incident which went viral showing a group of men mercilessly beating the dolphin,” he added.
On a complaint by local forest department employee Dinesh Kumar Patel, a first information report was lodged against unidentified persons under the Wild Life (Protection) Act.
On the basis of video footage, three of the attackers were identified as Rahul, Anuj and Rahul Lal.
The three men were arrested in a raid on Thursday and sent to jail,Singh added. Others who participated in the killing of the dolphin will be arrested soon, he said.
After killing the dolphin, the locals fled the scene when village head Manoj Singh reached the site after hearing of the attack. Local police and forest department employee Patel also reached the canal and sent the body of the mammal for a postmortem examination
Gangetic Dolphins usually live in deep waters of the Ganga and Yamuna rivers in the region. They often stray into small tributaries and canals that are interconnected.