Khanpur MlA and former chairman of the Uttarakhand Forest Development Corporation Pranav Singh ‘Champion’ has alleged that he and his wife are being framed on false charges because he had raised his voice against ‘corruption’ by the former managing director of the UFDC. Addressing mediapersons the MlA said that his wife Devyani Singh had worn a fake leopard print coat and not a genuine leopard pelt coat as was being alleged.
Regarding the Facebook posts being cited to state that the coat was made from the pelt of a big cat purportedly shot by his family member, Singh said that he did not even know how to open an account on the social networking site. However, People For Animals, Uttarakhand member secretary, Gauri Maulekhi who had complained to the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau in this case, maintains that the MlA’s wife wore a genuine leopard pelt coat which is why the WCCB had directed the chief wildlife warden to take necessary action in this case.
The MlA averred that since he had raised the issue of “corrupt” practice of the former UFDC MD, Maulekhi was working in tandem with the department official to frame him. “We are law abiding citizens and would not break the law by wearing a leopard pelt coat. I have asked the officials concerned to analyse my wife’s coat and after its proved fake, I will file defamation charges against Maulekhi,” he said. Referring to his Facebook account the MlA said, “I don’t know how to operate such an account which is being run by someone else. I have contacted the police and asked them to get this page closed,” he added.
Meanwhile, Maulekhi said, “I had complained to the WCCB on February 8 and provided a photo of Devyani Singh in the coat and images from the MlA’s Facebook page wherein he had captioned photos of his wife wearing the coat stating that it was made from the pelt of a leopard killed by his family member. The WCCB ordered the CWW on February 13 to take necessary action but the CWW did not act till March 3 and no case has been lodged, giving the MlA ample time to collect false evidence. I demand that the coat be seized and compared spot by spot with the one the MlA’s wife was photographed wearing in the Assembly. I also request the DGP to check the IP address from which the Facebook account of the MlA was opened to ascertain the truth,” she added.