Actor Darshan, MP Jaggesh under scanner after complaints of possession of wildlife articles
Bengaluru (PTI): A team of senior officials from Karnataka Forest Department would be visiting various places to probe if celebrities and others against whom complaints have been received are in possession of Wildlife articles, officials said on Wednesday.
Action will be initiated against them under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 if they are found in possession of such articles, they said.
Karnataka Environment and Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre said the law of the land is applicable to all without any discrimination and the government will act as per the law.
The Forest Department's move comes days after contestant of Bigg Boss Kannada reality show Varthur Santosh was arrested from the set on Sunday for allegedly wearing a tiger claw pendant. He was later sent to 14 days judicial custody.
Following his arrest, social media was flooded with photos of Kannada film actor Darshan, actor-turned-politician and BJP Rajya Sabha MP Jaggesh, and JDS leader Nikhil Kumaraswamy purportedly wearing such pendants. This prompted several organisations to officially write to the forest department seeking action against them.
Actor-politician and former Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy’s son Nikhil Kumaraswamy clarified that the tiger claw pendant that he was seen wearing was fake.
“It has been reported in some media that Nikhil Kumaraswamy wore a Tiger claw pendant during his marriage. This is far from the truth. I am certainly aware of the seriousness of the Wildlife Protection Act. The Tiger claw pendant I was wearing was fake, not real. It was given as a gift for my marriage. I still have it. Concerned authorities can verify. Please request no one to spread news which is
Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife), Kumar Pushkar said the department has received formal complaint against Darshan, leading producer Rockline Venkatesh, actor-turned-politician and Jaggesh, Venkateshwara Swamy in Kunigal and Vinay Guruji in Chikkamagaluru among others.
“We are verifying all these cases which have come to our notice through the media and several organisations which were received by us this morning. So, we are verifying each and every one of them and we will take action as per the Wildlife Protection Act wherever we find that the person actually possesses such wildlife articles,” he told PTI.
Asked if they would be questioned, the officer said, “We are taking all kinds of action. Our senior officers are heading the team. They would be visiting all these places and verifying the facts.”
Meanwhile, the Forest Minister noted that under the Wildlife Protection Act which came into effect in 1972, no animal parts should be traded -- be it tiger tooth, its pelt, claws, deer skin, horns, or the elephant tusks. There is no scope for using, storing, or transporting these wildlife materials anywhere.
“If at all anyone has done it, then it is a punishable crime. For this reason, the department will investigate the complaints about some people sporting the tiger claws, teeth or pelts and start legal proceedings against them.
“Law of the land is equal to everyone. No one is above law. Government will initiate action as per the law. I do not have the complete information. Whoever gives complaints will be looked into,” Kharndre told reporters in the district headquarters town of Kalaburagi.
Citing the Wildlife Protection Act-1972, the Minister said that no one is supposed to use these wildlife animal products.
“Today the case has come to light about the use of these materials by some individuals. Everyone should be aware of these laws and it is our primary responsibility to protect the ecology and wildlife,” he said.
Declining to name the individuals, the minister said the law of the land is applicable to all without any discrimination. He stressed that no one is above law.
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
