Animal trophies, ₹1 cr seized from retired army officer’s house
The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) raided the house of a retired army officer in Civil Lines area on Saturday and recovered 117 kg raw meat, animal skin and ivory along with cash and arms.
A team of forest department officials also joined the raid at the house of Col (retd) Devendra Kumar and seized leopard skin, trophies of black buck and sambar deer, three horns of sambar deer, eight deer skulls (two without antlers), teeth of wild animals, 117 kg raw meat in 45 packets stuffed in a refrigerator and a knife with ivory grip.
A forest department official said the meat could be of blue bull or deer and added that the sample had been sent to laboratory for testing.
The DRI team also recovered ₹99.98 lakh cash, guns and cartridges from the house.
Col (retd) Devendra Kumar and his son Prashant Vishnoi run a security agency.
The forest department, which also has police powers, has registered a case against the fatherson duo under the Wildlife Protection Act. No arrests have been made in the case but teams have been constituted to trace Prashant, who is at large.
Sources said Prashant was fond of hunting and was also part of the team invited for culling over 500 blue bulls in Bihar last year. He is also fond of befriending celebrities and posted pictures with actors, cricketers and politicians on his Facebook account.
Chief conservator of forest (west zone) Mukesh Kumar has directed the teams to investigate Prashant’s possible links with poachers.
SSP J Ravindra Gaud said the DRI officials could initiate action against the retired colonel and his son. The raid continued till late in the night and the officials finalised the list of seized material at 3 am on Sunday.