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Mumbai: Three more accused have been arrested in connection in the Whale Shark poaching on August 13. The range forest officer (Mangrove cell) finally succeeded in arresting the accused from South Mumbai. In all five accused to have been arrested by the police in this case.
The accused were identified as Krishna Buchade (29) is auctioneer, Dilip Shivkar (40), boat owner and Gopinath Mhatre, (38) boat driver, all the three accused were resident of Panvel and they were arrested on Monday from Colaba area.
After hunting for the fish, the trio sold the fish to a trader and fled from the spot. The accused were finally caught from the place where they were hiding for two days in Colaba”, said Forest Range Officer, Suresh Warak.
Trader Jung Bahadur Yadav (49) and tempo driver Shyamdhar Yadav (31) were arrested on August 13, while they were loading the flesh of the Whale shark.
The incident took place on August 12 in which the fishermen caught a Whale Shark fish which was about 25 feet long and weighed about two tons. The fish was caught in the deep sea and hunting of this fish is prohibited under the Wildlife Conservation Act 1972.
Three fishermen illegally hunted the Whale Shark fish. Due to the weight of the fish, it was not possible to bring the fish in the boat. So, the fishermen pulled the fish along with the fishing net and brought it to the shore of the Sassoon Dock. Then with a crane it was lifted and brought to the beach. Then the fish was sold to a trader for Rs 2,000 per kilo and fled.
Whale fat and flesh is used for making various medicines and oil. Therefore, this species of Whale Shark is protected species.
Whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) are protected under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act (WPA), 1972, and listed as ‘endangered’ species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
All the five accused were booked under the sections 9,39,44,48 and 51 of the Wildlife Protection Act.
The accused were present before the magistrate court and got conditional bail after paying a bond of Rs 15,000 each of them and on every Saturday, they have to present at the Range Forest office for further proceedings”, said Suresh Varak, range forest officer Central Mumbai.- By Vikas Nag
