According to sources, the snake charmer, Dhulanath, was displaying two cobras at the Ganesh pandal made by Late Pandit Nana Mitra Mandal on Sunday evening.
A snake charmer, displaying two cobras at a Ganesh pandal, managed to give the forest officials a slip in Kamatghar Road, Bhiwandi. However, this time it was because the officials acted a little too soon.
According to sources, the snake charmer, Dhulanath, was displaying two cobras at the Ganesh pandal made by Late Pandit Nana Mitra Mandal on Sunday evening. Some youths noticed it and reported the matter to Plant and Animals Welfare Society (Paws), Mumbai. The activists visited the pandal on Monday afternoon.
“Dhulanath was displaying two cobras — black and speckled — in the pandal. He told us that the organisers had invited him for the snake show,” said Sunish Subramanian of Paws, Mumbai.
“Two pigeons had been tied near the snakes so as to provoke them to spread their hoods,” Subramanian said. Dhulanath, a native of Madhya Pradesh, claimed to have been invited by the same organisers three years back. Sainath Pawar, the president of the mandal, denied having invited Dhulanath.
“A few days ago, a snake charmer happened to pass by. Seeing the crowd outside the pandal, he began displaying the snakes. Our volunteers forced him to go away when they noticed this,” Pawar claimed.
However, Asha, Dhulanath’s wife, told DNA that he was in Mumbai since last week to put the snakes on display during the Ganesh festival. A complaint was lodged in this regard with the office of chief conservator of forests, Thane circle, on Tuesday. A raid was carried out by the assistant conservator of forest AS Jadhav but to no avail. Jadhav said: “If we had gone in the evening, we could have caught Dhulanath because he usually came in the evening.”
GK Anarse, divisional forest officer, vigilance, said, “This is a serious offence. Sources said the forest department officials acted under pressure. The accused would be subjected to appropriate legal action when he is arrested.”
Sunish Subramanian said, “This is a gross violation of Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 and Performing Animals Rules 1973 and 2001.”
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