DEHRADUN: The Chief Judicial Magistrate’s Court in Pauri, Uttarakhand, has sentenced five villagers, including the former village head, to one year of simple imprisonment for setting a captive leopard on fire. The court has also imposed a fine of Rs 3,500 on each convict, with an additional 15 days of imprisonment in case of non-payment.According to reports, on May 24, 2022, an enraged mob burned a caged leopard alive in the village of Saplodi, located in the Pabau block. Following the incident, a case was registered at Kotwali Pauri based on a complaint by a forest officer. Five individuals, including the former village head, were named in the case, along with 150 unidentified persons. The charges included violations of the Wildlife Protection Act and obstruction of public servants in their duties.The region, including villages like Bhatti, Sarna, Kulmori, and Saplodi, had been living in fear due to frequent leopard sightings throughout 2022. The situation worsened on May 15, 2022, when Sushma Devi, a resident of Sarpatodi village, was attacked and killed by a leopard while returning home from the Harialisaidh forest, where she had gone with a friend to collect mountain berries known as ‘Kafal.’Following demands from the villagers, the forest department set up two traps in Saplodi on May 16, 2022. One of the traps successfully captured a leopard. However, when forest officials arrived to retrieve it, a large crowd gathered.According to reports, the mob demanded the immediate execution of the trapped leopard. When forest officials tried to intervene, the villagers, led by the then-village head, took matters into their own hands and set the leopard on fire while it was still alive.Following the incident, Satish Lal, the then Forest Officer of Bua Khal, filed a complaint that led to the registration of a case against five individuals, including former village head Anil Kumar Negi, Devendra Singh from Chopra and Sarita Devi, Bhuvaneshwari Devi, and Kailashi Devi from Sarna village, guilty of the crime. They were charged with violating the Wildlife Protection Act, obstructing public servants in their duties, and criminal assault.Chief Judicial Magistrate Lakshman Singh sentenced all five to one year of imprisonment, holding them accountable for the brutal act that violated wildlife protection laws.
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