Shahabuddin chargesheeted in cheetal hunting case

BETTIAH: Jailed RJD MP from Siwan Mohammed Shahabuddin alongwith 13 others has been chargesheeted by the forest department here for allegedly hunting a cheetal in 2003.

Divisional Forest Officer Surendra Singh submitted the chargesheet against Shahabuddin, Irshad Hussain, the panchayat head of Sirisia in West Champaran district and 12 others in the court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate of Bagaha yesterday.

Shahabuddin and others were charged of hunting a cheetal in the Valmikinagar Tiger Reserve area in West Champaran during a national convention of RJD in 2003.

Earlier, Shahabuddin's house at Pratappur in Siwan district was raided on April 24, 2003 after his photographs with the hunted cheetal were published in local dailies.

An antler and skin of the animal were recovered from his house during the raid.

The chargesheet stated that the MP and other accused have committed gross violation of the Wildlife Protection Act by entering into the protected area with firearms, hunting the cheetal, partaking of the wild animal's flesh and keeping its antler and skin as trophies.

All the accused in the case are on bail.