Imphal, April 15: For the better part of his life, Heisnam Megha Singh has been the voice of the campaign to safeguard the sangai, the world’s most threatened species of deer. Little did he know that Manipur police would one day hound him in the same manner this graceful animal is stalked by poachers.
In a strange turn of events, Megha Singh has found himself on the police’s “wanted” list for allegedly instigating militants to open fire on two local poachers.
It all began on January 19, when activists of the Environmental Social Reformation and Sangai Protection Forum caught the two poachers at Keibul Lamjao National Park, the sole habitat of the sangai. It transpired that the duo, identified as N. Joykumar and S. Tomba, had killed a deer by the time they were apprehended.
The chief judicial magistrate of Bishenpur granted bail to Joykumar and Tomba on January 22 on personal bonds of Rs 10,000 each despite their offence being a non-bailable one under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act. Worse still, not a single official of the forest department turned up for the next hearing, on January 30.
The state forensic laboratory, to which the seized venison had been sent for confirmation, returned the sample because it was not equipped for the stipulated test. The sample was subsequently sent to a Calcutta laboratory, but the result of the test has yet to be announced.
With the trial of the poachers not making much headway, the banned Revolutionary Peoples Front (RPF) decided to take up the case. Militants of the outfit pumped a bullet each into the duo’s legs to deter other poachers from targeting the sangai.
The police have now charged Megha Singh with masterminding the incident. “The police believe that I instigated the militants to shoot the two poachers. I am being hounded for a crime I did not commit. I had nothing to do with the attack on the poachers,” the conservationist told The Telegraph.
Megha Singh’s Environmental Social Reformation and Sangai Protection Forum is based at Keibul Lamjao in Bishenpur district. The forum has networked over 30 local clubs and environment groups to protect the endangered deer and other wildlife in the national park.
The sangai is a brow-antlered deer and found only at Keibul Lamjao, which is contiguous to the sprawling Loktak Lake. Poaching is rampant in the 40 square km sanctuary, the world’s only floating national park, despite increased vigil by the forest department and NGOs.
A minister and some police personnel were among those who had been caught poaching in the park a couple of years ago. “People living in the vicinity of the park hear gunshots very often at night,” Megha Singh said.
A census conducted last year pegged the Sangai population at 162. Another census was carried out earlier this year, but the results have yet to be officially announced.