Forest Division to seek accused's remand: Endangered Langur's Murder in Cachar!

The death of the Capped langur, Trachypithecus pileatus (Blyth, 1843) that belonged to the Cercopithecidae family in the Cachar district irked the Wildlife enthusiast. The langur was shot dead in the Ichacherra, Kabirapunjee area under the jurisdiction of the Udharbond Legislative Assembly on February 25.

Capped langur (Trachypithecus pileatus), IUCN has categorized the first one as vulnerable and it is a species found in Barail wildlife sanctuary. Experts have identified the deceased Langur as the Capped langur. As per Section 51(1) in The Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, (amended up to 2022), killing or keeping in possession or transporting of any Vulnerable, Endangered, or any such rare animal without the permission of the forest department is a serious offense and penalty provisions are there which include both imprisonments for several years together and fine up to several thousand.

Ghumra Police arrested one individual identified as Fueat Singh Bey, son of Lik Singh Bey and a resident of the Ichacherra Area. The 32-year-old has allegedly killed the Langur by shooting it with his air gun. If the Langur was shot to be a supper or was there any other motive is something that is yet to be investigated.

Top sources in the Cachar Forest Division informed that once the accused is produced before the judge, the Division will seek remand for two days to investigate the matter further and unearth if there is a racket involved in the killing of the endangered species.

One of the research scholars in wildlife Amir Sohail Choudhury earlier speaking with Barak Bulletin expressed that Restriction of AirGuns should be implemented. “Air Guns don’t require any license so it becomes easy to access. While these guns are used to kill Birds, Primates, Squirrels, and most importantly, some modify these guns so that they can be used to kill Muntjac, Serow, and Wild boar. Such transformation in these guns makes it a very lethal short/mid-range gun.”