Killing of Markhor: PHC orders arrest of poachers
PESHAWAR, Feb 27: The Peshawar High Court on Wednesday directed the district administration and police of Chitral to arrest those who killed a markhor in the area recently.
While taking up a suo motu case regarding the killing of the endangered animal in Chitral, which was first reported in chitraltoday.net, Chief Justice Dost Mohammad Khan directed that the chief conservator of the province should also be summoned during the next hearing of the case, the date for which is yet to be fixed.
When Justice Dost Mohammad and Justice MrsIrshad Qaiser took up the matter, the court’s human rights cell that the wild animal was about to become extinct due to unchecked and rampant poaching. The chief justice observed that influential people were involved in the poaching of the markhor. He said it was the duty of the wildlife department officials to create awareness about the conservation of the animal among the residents.
The court asked the officials concerned, including the DC and DPO of Chitral, to arrest the people who were involved in the killing of the animal last week and submit a report to the court during the next hearing of the case. It may be recalled that in a report published in chitraltoday.net on Feb 18, it was reported that five unknown persons driving a red double-cabin Datsun (GLT-5512) were caught red-handed by the forest staff after they hunted the markhor in Birmoghlast near Chitral. But the poachers escaped with the booty, threatening the forest officials of dire consequences.
However, during the brawl the forest officials snatched a piece of leg, head of the animal and hide from the poachers. Despite registration of a case with the local police, the culprits, however, remain un-traced. People of the area are surprised why someone could so openly hunt the animal and remained untraced. So far it is also not known whose property this mysterious Datsun bearing GLT 5512 registration plate was. Is it difficult to trace the owner of the vehicle in an area like Chitral? It shows the incompetency of the police and the wildlife department officials.
Many people say they are hand in glove with the poachers. The suo motu action by the PHC chief Justice is a welcomed news to discourage such elements and bring all those to justice who have been plundering with the resources of Chitral with impunity.
We are not worried what other local media is into as long as Chitral Today is there. We are so proud to have a paper like this as it has truly become the voice of the voiceless. I was just going through other local media taking pride on their readership, flashing the suo moto story of markhor killing by Peshawar High Court chief justice. I just want to ask them where they have been hiding when it was talk of the town that some people poached down a markhor? Another interesting thing is that some of my friends who are quite active in social media like twitter have also twitted the story of a local website. But my friend, a top government officer, has just forgotten to think even once that the website story which he had twitted, does not merit to be spread like this. But he has taken the responsibility to promote a local website free of cost while twitting its stories to some of its twitter friends like former Pakistan ambssador to US Hussain Haqqani and his dual national spouse Franaz Isphani. By the way good job, it may help in promotion next time when PPP will be back in power. At the moment there is no way and people just want to get rid of the corrupt regime. Shhhhh…
We are not worried what the other local media is into as long as Chitral Today is there. We are so proud of having a paper like this as it has truly become the voice of the voiceless. I was just going through other local media taking pride on their readership, flashing the suo motu story of the markhor killing by Peshawar High Court chief justice. I just want to ask them where they were hiding when it was the talk of the town that some people had poached a markhor? Another interesting thing is that some of my friends who are quite active in social media like twitter have also twitted the story of a local website, but my friend, a top government officer, just forgot to think even once that the website story which he had twitted does not merit to be spread they had taken the responsibility to promote it while twitting it Hussain Haqqani and his spouse Franaz Isphani. By the way good job, it may help in promotion next time when PPP will be back in power as at the moment there is a way and people just want to get rid of the corrupt regime. Shhhhh.
It is also condemnable that the local press did not report the arrest of former district nazim Maghfirat Shah for storing hundreds of explosive materials at his powerhouse. I have seen the news no where exept in this website and the Business Recorder newspaper of Karachi. Friends, hiding a crime does not behove well for Chitral rather in this age of social media it will expose black sheep whether they are in any govt dept, political party or the media.
Indeed it is was more unfortunate and we also condemn it to the strongest possible terms. After the local media willfully did not report the story of Haji Maghfirat Shah’s arrest from premises of a local court on charges of stealing explosives. It was a must story which should have been reported but the local media except Chitral Today played their ugly tricks of favouritism, which is an insult to the sacred profession of journalism. Maghfirat Shah should be given exemplary punishment as first of all he is HAJI, served as a district mayor and an activist of religious political party. The way he is being accused of stealing the explosives reflects he should quit politics as he has no quality of a leader. I would like to request Mr Zulfiqar Ahmad to dig into the allegations against Haji Maghfirat Shah and help we the Chitralis in exposing such black sheep who have spoiled the whole image of Chitral.
Bravo Chitral Today. This is just the start when a case which the local media completely tried to blackout except Chitral Today. We salute Chitral Today and its team for the daring reporting! Hats off to you. You deserve the best. And yes it would be unfair if remained silent that the local media, which did not report the poaching incident, have now started reporting, which is quite shameful!
Good decision taken by PHC to arrest the enemies of such rare animals..Brovo