A video purporting to show the body of a chinkara hanging from a tree as a dozen people are preparing and eating its meat provoked outrage among the Bishnoi community and wildlife advocates, as per the officials of the city.
The Bishnoi Tiger Force sent a memo to the divisional forest officer and the police commissioner requesting the detention of every person in the video and their booking under the Wild Life (Protection) Act.
The group also demanded the formation of flying squads for regular patrolling in the region. “We have been assured that stern action would be taken against the culprits in two days. If nothing happens… we will hold a symbolic demonstration at the collectorate on Thursday,” the Bishnoi Tiger Force chief Ram Pal Bhawad said.
The video, which shows the chinkara hanging from a tree as its skin is being peeled and meat cut and cooked, was widely circulated on Sunday.
The clip is said to be from a farm at Pannesingh Nagar in Luni.
Wildlife activist Om Prakash said many poachers set up their settlements on the Jodhpur-Barmer border and engaged in hunting chinkaras that they sold to groups such as these and even to hotels.
Luni MLA Maahendra Bishnoi said he had inquired about the incident.