Jajpur: A couple who had been booked for taking pictures with wild animals and also domesticating them surrendered before Forest department officials Wednesday night, police said in Jajpur Thursday.
The couple had been absconding for a couple of days after police raided their house March 24 and 25. The two identified as Monalisha Bhadra and her husband Badrinarayan Bhadra are natives of Jahal village under Beruada panchayat of Sadar police limits in this district.
Forest department officials and police produced them in court Thursday from where they were remanded to judicial custody after their bail pleas were rejected. The matter will be heard again Friday, the SDJM said. The Bhadra couple has been booked by the Forest department under Section 9 of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972.
The couple had left the village since Sunday when a joint team of Forest personnel from Jajpur Road and Cuttack conducted raids on their house on charges of keeping wild animals and uploading their videos on social media platforms. During the raids at Bhadra’s house, officials found a monkey and seized the animal. However, the couple managed to give the cops a slip.
Speaking to mediapersons, ranger, Jyoti Ranjan Mohapatra confirmed that the couple has surrendered. Mohapatra said that the ACF is investigating the case and steps will be taken in this regard once the investigation gets completed. Mohapatra said that the Forest department is keeping a close watch on those who are involved in the domestication of wild animals and are uploading their photos and videos on social media platforms.
Mohapatra also informed that the couple was earlier warned about keeping wild animals in their home and uploading photos on various social media platforms. However, they continued to violate the rules paying scant respect to the warnings of the Forest department officials.
PNN