Three chinkaras and a blackbuck, both protected species, were today killed in the district allegedly by a group of poachers, following which two of them were arrested.
"Three chinkaras were killed by poachers in Luni region of Jodhpur whereas one blackbuck was killed in Bala village near Bilara in the district early morning, police said.
In the first case, Luni police arrested two poachers, identified as Mohammad Abdul and Jiauddeen and seized an Innova car and some sharp-edged weapons, while they were attempting to flee with the carcasses of the three animals.
"We caught them during our routine nakabandi (checking)", SHO (Luni) Gautam Dotasara said.
He said there were about six persons in the car, bearing the registration number of Jaipur.
"We stopped them on the checking post and arrested two of them and seized the carcasses of the chinkaras. The rest absconded", Dotasara said.
All these poachers belonged to Rajsamand town, which has given strength to the belief that there is a growing demand of chinkara meat, which is being met by their poaching here, police said, adding, hunt is on to nab the rest.
Chinkara is an Indian gazelle and blackbuck is a species of antelope native to the Indian subcontinent. Both are protected species.
In the other case, a group of villagers heard a gun shot in the morning and when they rushed to the spot, they found a blackbuck lying injured, General Secretary of the Bishnoi Tiger Vanya Evam Paryavaran Sanstha, Ramniwas Budhnagar said
"They rushed it to the nearest rescue centre but could not save its life", he said, expressing "suspicion" over the people of "Van Baori tribes" living in the region, who are "notorious for poaching."
No arrest has been made so far in this connection, he said.
Meanwhile, considering the large population of the blackbucks in the region, the people of the village have demanded for a permanent forest chowki in the village.
"We are ready to provide a piece of land absolutely free of cost to the forest department for the purpose", Budhnagar said.
