Case filed at district court against 9 people on charge of rhino horn trade

KATHMANDU, June 24: The Chitwan National Park (CNP) Office, Kasara, has registered a case against nine people for allegedly buying and selling the horn of the one-horned rhino, a protected wild animal. The case was registered against them on Monday at the Chitwan District Court.

According to a statement issued by the CNP Office, those who have been sued are Sant Bahadur Kumal, 40, of Bharatpur Metropolitan Municipality-28; Balkumar Rai, 33, of Rapti Municipality-3, Sundar Basti; Dev Bahadur Pariyar, 35, of Bhanunagar, Bardaghat Municipality-8, Nawalparasi, Dhan Bahadur Baaniya, 38 of Kalika-7, Rupandehi; Krishnaraj Pandey Chhetri, 51, of Anand Path, Butwal-11.

Similarly, Kamal Rana, 28, Jaimini Municipality-7,Baglung; Nagendra Thapa, 38, Radkhani, Jaimini Municipality-10, Baglung; Khadka Bahadur Thapa, 36, of Jaimini Municipality-9, Baglung; Kul Bahadur Budhathoki, 47, of Syangja, Nirkot Municipality-9 currently residing in Butwal-4 have also been sued, according to the CNP’s Information Officer Ganesh Prasad Tiwari.

According to him, they were arrested on the basis of information that one-horned rhino horn was being bought and sold in the Bharatpur-9 area on May 10, 2024.

Tiwari said that among those who have been sued, Sant Bahadur Kumal was arrested when a rhino horn was found with him during a search.

According to Tiwari, one of the defendants, Pankaj Kumal, also known as Sant Bahadur, was imprisoned for eight years on the charge of shooting and injuring a rhino in the past.

He was released six years ago after paying a fine of 50,000. 

The case has been filed against them at the district court, demanding action as per Section 26 (5d) of the National Parks and Wildlife Protection Act, 2029.