Four men have been arrested for allegedly molesting a Bengal monitor lizard at the Sahydari Tiger Reserve in Maharashthra, India.
According to reports, the four men who are hunters are identified as, Sandeep Tukram, Pawar Mangesh, Janardhan Kamteka, and Akshay Sunil. Their arrest comes after one the accused’s phones was discovered to contain a video of them gang-molesting the lizard.
Gist mania reports that CCTV footage from the Maharashtra Forest Department showed the four men lurking around the forest and trespassing into the Sahyadri Tiger Reserve, which was created by the Indian government in 2008 to conserve Bengal tigers.
Forest guards initially only caught one of the accused, while the others fled. The remaining three were later found in Hativ village in the Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra. The forest guards noted that they will take up the matter with the Indian Penal Court to discuss the charges against the suspects.
