Team Herald
PONDA: The Ponda Forest officials on Saturday arrested five persons for poaching three monitor lizards in the Durbhat, Agapur forest.
The poaching of monitor lizard is banned under Wild Life Protection Act. Providing details of the raid, Ponda Sub Divisional Forest Officer Anand Jadav said, “Forest team has been keeping a strict vigil in the area for the past many days. On Saturday, the officials of the North Goa Forest Division Range Forest Office at Ponda including Deepak Bethkikar conducted a raid in the Agapur forest and arrested five accused and seized the three monitor lizards poached by them along with weapons used for hunting.
All the accused are residents of Uddo-Quelossim and had visited the Agapur forest by crossing the Zuari River in a canoe.
He said, “Monitor lizard is banned under Schedule One Species of Wild Life Protection Act and has equal importance to that of protection of Tiger and Bison. The Forest Department has even banned the hunting of lizard for using its skin in making ‘ghumats’. However, today these people hunted them for bushmeat.”
He said for hunting the monitor lizard the minimum punishment is three years imprisonment and fine of Rs 25,000.
He said from preliminary investigation it appears the accused are habitual poachers.
