Ludhiana: An international animal rights group has exposed an illegal wildlife trafficking operation in the city after spotting an Instagram user advertising a captured baby monkey for sale.Punjab Police filed criminal charges against Dalbir Singh of Lohatbaddi village following a formal complaint by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) India and local wildlife officials.Peta investigators alerted the Ludhiana forest division after capturing video evidence from Dalbir Singh’s Instagram account, where he allegedly had showcased an infant bonnet macaque offered for sale and kept a protected Alexandrine parakeet as a pet.Bonnet macaques are protected under Schedule I of India’s Wildlife (Protection) Act, granting them the highest level of legal preservation alongside tigers and elephants, while the parakeet falls under Schedule II.Forest Range Officer Narinder Singh said a joint enforcement team jhad raided the suspect’s residence in the Raikot area but found only the suspect’s uncle. The targeted wild animals had already been moved and were not recovered.“Wild animals belong in the forest, their natural home, not in people’s homes or cages,” said Meet Ashar, Peta India’s legal adviser and director of cruelty response, who commended local police for pursuing the case.Authorities are tracing the suspect’s mobile phone and digital footprint to locate the missing animals. Raikot’s Sadar police booked the accused under Sections 9 and 51 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, for illegal hunting and possession of protected species.
