Bengaluru: BJP corporator of JP Park ward Mamatha K.B. Vasudev and her husband Vasudev are in the dock for cutting a tree along with a cobra, which had crawled into it. The snake which was present in a hole within the tree, got cut into three pieces when the tree was sawed down by a BBMP tree cutting team. The weak tree according to Vasudev was posing danger to a temple nearby as it was monsoon season.
The wildlife officials have lodged a police complaint against Vasudev, booking him under Schedule II (Part II) of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 as cobras fall under that category of protected species.
The incident is said to have happened on June 28, when the corporator and his men noted a weak tree near the Muthyalamma Devi Temple in JP Park. The corporator’s husband Vasudev sought permission from the BBMP’s tree office to cut down the tree.
Soon a team of tree cutters arrived at the spot and started sawing the tree. They soon realised that they had cut a cobra into three pieces and saw the pieces of the reptile among the tree pieces. Locals who had gathered at the spot recorded the gory incident on their mobile phones and started circulating it.
Some onlookers brought the incident to the notice of the BBMP wildlife volunteers. The Range Forest Officer (RFO) of the area visited the spot and inspected it. After around four to five days, the deputy range forest officer Shivaram lodged a complaint against the corporator’s husband at the jurisdictional Jalahalli police station.
However, Vasudev told DC that “It happened last month. The tree was weak and we had sought permission to cut it. It was an accident that the snake had crawled into and got killed because nobody noticed it until the tree was cut in full.”
Deputy RFO Shivaram said “We know that it was an accident, but cobra was a protected species under Schedule II of Indian Wildlife Protection Act and thus we have registered a police case.”
