Bandipora: The Forest protection personnel Tuesday recovered a boat along with a punt gun from Wular Lake around Lankreshipora village of north Kashmir’s Bandipora district, following a tip-off.
As per the Forest Protection officials, the anti-poaching squad acted following a tip-off from a source and recovered a boat and the gun.
However, the hunter had managed to flee from the spot before the team arrived.
“The squad headed by Deputy Inspector acted following a tipoff from the reliable source and seized a boat along with the punt gun,” Muhammad Younis, Assistant Director of operation of the Forest Protection Force said, adding,, “the poacher had fled from the spot.”
The Punt gun as per the officials is an extremely long shotgun that is used to silently sneak and hunt down different types of birds in wetlands. In the past, departments have seized several such guns from Wular Lake due to rampant poaching and illegal trade of the migratory birds.
The Assistant Director said that the Forest Protection Force has intensified the surveillance operations in and around Wular Lake to stop illegal hunting and provide protection to winged residents of the Wular Lake.
According to the official, there was almost negligible poaching of migratory birds in Wular Lake this season given the ‘strict vigilance’ of the anti-poaching squads, who were utilising every source to crack down on poachers. The officials said, “by the next season, we will be able to stop it completely.”