Congress leader Mallikarjun booked after wild animal seizure

An officer clarified that around 29 wild animals including spotted deer, black buck, foxes, mongoose had been seized from the farm house

Forest Department officials on Thursday booked Congress leader and former minister S S Mallikarjun and three others under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 after 29 wild animals were found on his farm house.

Confirming this, a forest officer, who did not wish to be named told DH that a case has been booked after Davangere City Corporation submitted a document stating that the owner of the farm house is Mallikarjun, the son of veteran Congress leader and sitting MLA of Davangere South Shamanur Shivashankarappa. The manager, caretaker and the other staff are also accused in the case. A charge sheet will be submitted to the First Additional JMFC-2 Court after the inquiry.

The officer clarified that around 29 wild animals including spotted deer, black buck, foxes, mongoose which had been seized from the farm house, will be shifted to Indira Priyadarshini mini zoo, coming under the purview of the Zoo Authority of Karnataka, at Aangodu around 20 km from Davangere. He also said they would not be kept for public viewing.

Earlier, Mallikarjun claimed that he has the licence to keep the animals and that he has been rearing deer for the past 22 years and claimed that his staffer in charge of the farm house had sold various wild animal parts violating norms without his knowledge.

A team of the Central Crime Branch police and forest officials raided the farm house behind Kalleshwara rice mill owned Mallikarjun in Davangere city on Wednesday night and had seized around 29 wild animals after one Senthil, who was arrested on charges of selling deer skin in Bengaluru, stated that he bought it from a farm house in Davangere.

According to the team, seven spotted deer, 10 black-bucks, seven wild boars, three mongoose and two foxes were found in the farm house.

Assistant Conservator of Forests, Davangere sub-division, has been authorised to conduct the inquiry and submit the charge sheet.