Hyderabad police rescue blackbuck from being slaughtered, three held

Sleuths of the Hyderabad Commissioner's Task Force on Tuesday arrested three people and rescued a blackbuck, with the help of the Forest Department. The South Zone Team of the Task Force said that the accused have been identified as Chapala Siddaiah, Mohd Anwar Ali and Mohd Javeed alias Dawood. Police said that Anwar Ali and Javeed were residents of Hyderabad and worked at Murgi Chowk, while Siddaiah was a fisherman from Pebbair in Telangana's Wanaparthy district. "The prime accused Mohd Anwar Ali is a bird seller from the last 40 years at Murgi Chowk. He acquires different types of birds and animals for selling to customers, from known persons. Mohd Anwar Ali met with Mohd. Javeed and started selling rabbits and other birds in the said market. Meanwhile, Anwar Ali and Javeed met Chapala Siddaiah, who has a habit of hunting different birds and animals from the Krishna River belt," the police said in a press note. A few days ago, Siddaiah caught one blackbuck near Krishna river and sold it to Anwar, police said. Police added that Anwar and Javeed planned to sell the blackbuck meat at a cost of Rs 3,000 per kg. However, based on a tip-off, investigation officials managed to take the accused into custody before they killed the animal. The blackbuck, with scientific name Antilope cervicapra, is mainly found in India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan, and is listed 'Red' in the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources). Hunting blackbucks is an offence under the Centre's Wild Life Protection Act, 1972. The accused in the case, were handed over to the Forest Department for further investigation. The blackbuck has been shifted temporarily to the Nehru Zoological Park in Hyderabad and kept in quarantine.