A public school in the capital was in for a surprise when the sleuths of the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) along with People for Animals (PFA) nabbed its administrative head for allowing conduction of dissection of at least 15 wild endangered species of animals and plants in its biology laboratory.
A case has been lodged in the local police station against the school administration in the local police station, for violation of Section 9, 17, 39, 42, 50, and 51 of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972.
These sections pertain to prohibition of hunting, ban on picking, uprooting of specified plants, protection of endangered species amongst others. The provision of Section 51 attracts penalties and imprisonment from three-seven years. The heads of the schools are however missing.
According to Saurabh Gupta, Special Officer WCCB, this came in the wake of surprise raids conducted by a team of five including local police personnel on the school campus on Thursday during working hours. The children were found to dissect frogs in the laboratory.
A dead infant of a monkey was also found in the laboratory. To add to the above, rare pitcher plant, chameleon, tortoise and varities of star fish were recovered from the laboratory.
These animals, listed under Schedule 2 and Schedule 4 of WlPA were found stored in bottles with formaldehyde solution in the laboratory.