Illegal hunting: MPA and his friends accused of attacking Wildlife Dept office

Wildlife Inspector Saadullah Leghari file in his complaint to Taunsa’s City police station for illegal bustard...

DERA GHAZI KHAN: Newly-elected MPA Mumtaz Bhutto Qaisrani and his friends allegedly attacked an office of the Wildlife Department in Taunsa and took away some people involved in illegal hunting of birds.



Wildlife Inspector Saadullah Leghari said in his complaint to Taunsa’s City police station that he and his colleagues visited Kot Qaisrani, Jhok Bodo and other areas on reports of illegal hunting in these areas. He said that wildlife officials Muhammad Iqbal, Shahwar Bashir, Muhammad Tanvir, Muhammad Tufail and Ghulam Farid accompanied him to these areas.

Leghari said that he and his colleagues found Shakeel, Jahanzeb and others illegally hunting bustards in the Jhok area. He said that they arrested the hunters and seized a pistol and bullets from their accomplice Adnan. He said they arrested Shaukat Hussain and others who were illegally hunting bustards at another place and sized the hunting paraphernalia. He said they took the hunters to the office of the Wildlife Department in Taunsa and initiated departmental action against them. He said that MPA Qaisrani, his friends Ziyad Ahmad Dafadar, Shamsullah, Khalil Ahmad Qaisrani, Bashir Ahmad, Shamsher Ahmad and 40 to 50 unidentified men attacked the office and took away the poachers and the hunting equipment.



Police registered a case against them and formed teams to arrest them, but nobody had been arrested until Monday evening.

Wildlife Deputy Director Hussain Ali Sukhera said nobody would be allowed to illegally hunt birds in Dera Ghazi Khan no matter how influential he was.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 7^th, 2016.