Video emerges of partygoers feasting on chinkara meat, protests erupt in Jodhpur

Jodhpur: A video purportedly showing the carcass of a chinkara hanging from a tree while a dozen people are cooking and consuming its meat sparked protests among the Bishnoi community and wildlife activists, officials here said on Monday.

The Bishnoi Tiger Force submitted a memorandum to the commissioner of police and the divisional forest officer, demanding the arrest of all the people seen in the video and booking them under the Wild Life (Protection) Act.

The group also demanded the formation of flying squads for regular patrolling in the region.

“We have been assured that stern action would be taken against the culprits in two days. If nothing happens we will hold a symbolic demonstration at the collectorate on Thursday,” the Bishnoi Tiger Force chief Ram Pal Bhawad said.

The video, which shows the chinkara hanging from a tree as its skin is being peeled and meat cut and cooked, was widely circulated on Sunday.

The clip is said to be from a farm at Pannesingh Nagar in Luni.

Wildlife activist Om Prakash said many poachers set up their settlements on the Jodhpur-Barmer border and engaged in hunting chinkaras that they sold to groups such as these and even to hotels.

Luni MLA Maahendra Bishnoi said he had inquired about the incident.

“The forest officers visited the spot and took blood samples. There is also a version that it was not a chinkara but a goat. So we are waiting for the results,” said Bishnoi.