American influencer who caused outrage after snatching baby wombat in Australia issues apology
Melbourne, Mar 15 (AP): An American influencer who sparked outrage after posting a video of her snatching a baby wombat from its mother while in Australia apologised on Saturday, saying she had acted out of concern for the young animal's welfare.
Australian authorities had threatened Sam Jones with deportation after she posted a video on her Instagram account of her running with a wombat joey in her hands from its mother on a roadside at night.
“I ran, not to rip the joey away from its mother, but from fear she might attack me,” Jones, who also uses the name Samantha Strable, posted on social media.
“The snap judgement I made in these moments was never from a place of harm or stealing a joey,” she added.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the video of the young wombat being grabbed was “just an outrage.”
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said his department was investigating whether Jones had breached the terms of her visa before she left the country on Friday.
“There's never been a better day to be a baby wombat in Australia,” Burke said after she left Australia voluntarily.
Burke said he did not expect Jones would apply for an Australian visa again.
The animal appears to be a common wombat, also known as a bare-nosed wombat. It is a protected marsupial found only in Australia.
Montana-based Jones claimed she became “extremely concerned” when she found the two wombats on a road not moving.
“As wombats are so often hit on Australian roads, I stopped to ensure they got off the road safely and didn't get hit,” Jones said.
“However, as is seen from the video, when I walked up to them, the joey did not move or run off. I was concerned it may have been sick or injured, and made a snap judgement to pick up the joey and see if that was the case,” she added.
An unidentified man laughs as he films Jones saying: “I caught a baby wombat.” They both note the mother's sounds of aggression.
Animal welfare experts said Jones could have harmed the joey by dangling it by its two forelegs.
Jones said she returned the joey to its mother and ensured they both left the road.
“I have done a great deal of reflection on this situation and have realised that I did not handle this situation as best as I should have,” she said.
“I have learned from this situation, and am truly sorry for the distress I have caused,” she added.
Jones did not immediately respond on Saturday to The Associated Press's questions, including where and when the baby wombat was captured.
A wombat expert said the video revealed the joey had the skin disease mange and would die without treatment.
Jones also did not tell the AP where she was on Saturday.
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Traffic fraud: Fake 'no-entry' sticker racket busted in Delhi, mastermind among 3 held
New Delhi (PTI): Police here have busted a crime syndicate involved in traffic fraud and extortion, arresting three people including the alleged mastermind who sold fake stickers to help commercial vehicles bypass no-entry restrictions, an official said on Saturday.
The police said they dismantled a third organised syndicate linked to traffic-related frauds, with the arrest of Rinku Rana alias Bhushan, his associate Sonu Sharma and Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, who was also connected to another extortion syndicate.
According to the police, Rinku Rana was running a well-organised network that facilitated the movement of commercial goods vehicles during restricted hours by selling fake 'marka' or stickers for Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 per vehicle every month. The stickers were falsely projected as authorisation to evade traffic challans.
During raids, the police recovered Rs 31 lakh in cash, property documents worth several crores of rupees, over 500 fake stickers and six mobile phones allegedly used to operate the syndicate.
The crackdown followed a complaint filed by a traffic police officer in April this year after a commercial vehicle tried to evade checking by producing a fake sticker claiming exemption from enforcement action.
Investigation revealed that social media groups were being used to coordinate the illegal movement of vehicles and alert drivers about traffic police checkpoints, police said.
"A parallel system was being run to cheat drivers and vehicle owners while undermining traffic enforcement. On the basis of evidence, provisions related to organised crime under the BNS were invoked," a senior police officer said.
Sonu Sharma, the police said, managed social media groups through which stickers were sold and real-time alerts were circulated regarding traffic police movement. He also acted as a link between Rana and drivers operating in the field.
In a related development, Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, an associate of Rajkumar alias Raju Meena, who was earlier arrested under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), was also apprehended.
Mukesh allegedly helped extort money from transporters and was involved in blackmailing traffic police personnel by recording enforcement actions, the police said.
Investigators alleged the syndicate led by Rajkumar deployed drivers to deliberately violate traffic rules and secretly record police officials during challans, later using manipulated videos to extort money under threat of false allegations.
The police said that in total, eight accused belonging to three different organised crime syndicates linked to traffic frauds and extortion have been arrested so far.
Further investigation is underway to trace the remaining members, conduct financial probes, and analyse digital evidence recovered during the raids, officials added.
