Gujarat: 2 tourists among 6 fined for trespassing into reserved Gir forest area to watch lions
Amreli, Aug 27: Two tourists and four other persons have been fined a total of Rs 1.75 lakh for allegedly trespassing into a reserved Gir forest area to watch the Asiatic lions in their natural habitat in Gujarat's Amreli district, an official said on Sunday.
Of these six persons, three are locals and a hotelier who made arrangements for the tourists to watch lions after entering the restricted area of Sarasiya range forest without permission, Deputy Conservator of Forests (DCF), Gir East, Rajdeepsinh Zala said.
The incident came to light around three weeks back, following which three locals were caught for helping some tourists to enter the reserved forest area illegally, Zala said.
They were fined Rs 25,000 each for the offence of trespassing under provisions of the Indian Forest Act and the Wildlife (Protection) Act, the official said.
Following the investigation, three more persons were nabbed and fined a total Rs 1 lakh for the offence, he said.
"These tourists entered the forest area with the help of locals to watch lions. We fined three persons around three weeks back, and further investigation led to three more persons who were part of the gang that entered the forest illegally," the official said.
"When we questioned the locals caught three weeks back, they revealed a tourist and commercial angle to the incident. This led us to two nab two tourists and a hotelier three days back and we fined them," he said, adding that more people are likely to be involved in the offence.
According to the 2020 census, there were 674 lions in Gujarat, a 29 per cent increase in its population compared to the 2015 census.
The state has a total of 206 lions, 309 lionesses, 130 cubs and 29 unidentified big cats, as per the 2020 census.
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Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
