A court of Rahim Yar Khan made the first conviction of Punjab for hunting the illegal Chinkara deer, sentenced four men to one year in prison as well as fines totaling RS4 million, with six months in additional prison in the event of non-payment.
The case was recorded in 2023 by the Rahim Yar Khan Rangers fauna following a poaching incident in the Cholistan desert. Procedures took place at the Khanpur civil court, with the deputy head of the Wildlife Mujahid Kaleem Khan continuing the case.
The convicts, Saleem Sargodhi, Sadiq Mangria, Pannu Mangria and Rafiq Parhiyar were placed in police custody immediately after the verdict.
The deputy head of the fauna, the Ranger Mujahid Kaleem Khan, praised the decision, calling him a significant deterrence against future poaching in the Cholistan public reserve.
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“This decision sends a clear message to hunters that such crimes will no longer be tolerated,” he said.
The judgment follows the Punjab fauna law in 2021, which increased sanctions for wild crimes. Under the revised law, the illegal hunting of Blackbuck, Chinkara, Pork deer or URIAL carries one to three years’ imprisonment and fines ranging from 200,000 rupees to 1 million rupees per animal.
The Bahawalpur Wildlife Fauna region, Syed Ali Usman Bukhari, has reaffirmed the ministry’s commitment to protect and keep fauna in Cholistan, the second largest Pakistan desert.
Although they are sheltered in Blackbuck, Chinkara, Nilgai, Urial and many bird species, poaching decades have led to a sharp drop in their populations.
