The event came to light when a passerby detected a foul odor emanating from the Babarva area while traversing a bridge near Anandpur Pedhavada village in the Ghantvad 2 section of the Ganthvad round in the Jamvada range on August 18.
The concerned individual reported the matter to a former sarpanch, who subsequently alerted the forest department about the situation.
Acting on the information, local forest officials arranged for the lion’s carcass to be transported to the Jamvala rescue center for a postmortem examination. The postmortem results unveiled that the deceased lion, a five-year-old specimen, had suffered a fatal electric shock.
In response to the findings, a forest department team initiated an inquiry within the Babarva-Nera area to ascertain the circumstances surrounding the lion’s demise.
The investigation led to the identification of a farmer named Jitubhai Parmar as a key suspect in the case.
Parmar has admitted that the lion died due to electrocution, a result of its unintended interaction with an unauthorised electric line drawn from a transformer to safeguard his groundnut crops from the depredations of nilgai and wild boars.
On August 14, the lion encountered the electric current and was fatally shocked.
Parmar concealed the lifeless lion’s body on his farm throughout the day and subsequently, on August 15, he enlisted the assistance of his brother Virbhan Parmar to dispose of the lion’s remains, discarding it in the waters of the Babarva Nera area at 2 a.m under the cover of night.
Both accused face legal proceedings and have also appeared before the Kodinar court. Their bail plea was denied by the court, and they were remanded to judicial custody in Junagadh.
–IANS
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