Villagers from about seven villages in Nashik district chased down six men, tied them to a tree and beat them up for allegedly killing a deer and a black buck.
Villagers from about seven villages in Nashik district chased down six men, tied them to a tree and beat them up for allegedly killing a deer and a black buck. The villagers from Yeola taluka reasoned that the vigilantism was to save wildlife and to “punish the hunters for their wrongdoing”.
The villagers were alerted to the alleged hunters by two brothers from Kalegaon-Rendal village. The two had heard gunshots on Sunday morning while looking for a tree to tie a swing for their kids. They informed Sunil Paithankar, a local political leader, about the gunshots.
Paithankar rushed to the spot with the police and a gramrakshak. They, too, heard the gunshots and realised that the hunters were moving towards Vaee-bothi village. Villagers from Rendal followed the hunters, who were travelling in a Sumo. They also warned villagers and gramrakshaks from Mamdapur, Kolam, Deodari, Bharam, Kharwandi and other nearby villages of the hunters.
The hunters tried to run away on seeing the villagers chasing them. However, they found most exit roads sealed and barricades. Near Vaiee-bothi, the hunters found a bullock-cart stationed across the road. The driver got out of the vehicle to move the cart away, but soon realised it was a ploy by villagers to stop the hunters, as he saw some villagers marching towards the vehicle. The hunters fired in the air, but the villagers kept marching undeterred.
The Sumo’s driver turned the vehicle around and sped towards Vaijapur. A barricade at Bharam forced him to turn towards Kharwandi. The villagers had put up obstacles at Kharwandi, too. The driver, unsettled by villagers chasing, failed to control the vehicle at a spot where the road bifurcated. The vehicle toppled, and the villagers caught hold of the hunters. A 12-bore gun was seized from them.
As soon as the six hunters were dragged out of the vehicle, the villagers tied them to a tree and started beating them up. The villagers took it upon themselves to punish the hunters till the police and forest officials arrived.
The police found two dead animals, a deer and a black buck, in the vehicle. The carcasses were handed over to the forest department for a post-mortem. The police said the six — Kamruddin Mohmmad Sahfi Noorbagh, Mohmmad Issak Sumdah, Tajmul Ahmed Javed Ahmed, Tarrebez Mohammad Sultan, Ansari Ajmal Hussein, Salim Ahmed Mohammad Mushtaq and Rafiq Ahmed Mustafa — belonged to Malegaon. On Monday, they were remanded in police custody for 14 days.
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