Forest officials arrested six fishermen and seized two mechanised fishing boats and two country boats on charges of illegally fishing in the water bodies of Bhitarkanika National Park in Kendrapada district of Odisha, officials said today.
The six were arrested under sections-29 and 7 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 on Thursday night for illegal fishing, Akshya Kumar Nayak, forest range officer of the park, said.
They were produced in the court of Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) in Rajnagar yesterday. The court rejected their bail applications and remanded them to judicial custody, Nayak said.
The rivers and creeks of Bhitarkanika are home to around 1600 salt water crocodiles for which the authorities have banned any form of fishing in the park.
