Shot In Their Arms

Should forest guards be armed with lethal weapons? Sporadic attacks on foresters prompt a reassessment of inconsistent regional regulations

- Rahul Noronha And Rohit Parihar

On February 4, Madanlal Verma, 58, a forest guard posted in Madhya Pradesh’s Dewas district, did not return home after work. A search operation that night located his body in the forests of the Punjapura range. The cause of death was a gunshot injury—he had been murdered during the course of his patrol. Footage recovered from his cellphone filled in the details. It appears that Verma had come upon some miscreants earlier that day, later identified as poachers. In the video found on his phone, Verma can be heard challenging an assailant to shoot him. A gunshot then rings out.

This incident is a chilling reminder of the perils that foresters face every day. Even police officers are not immune to such dangers—the day after Verma’s murder, a police inspector was fired upon by members of a mining mafia in Gwalior district. The day before that, a police constable was shot at and injured in Datia district in similar circumstances.

This is a long-standing problem. Over a month ago, on January 8, while hearing an interlocutory application (IA) filed by the Nature Conservation Society on the increasing number of attacks on forest department field staff in some states, the Supreme Court asked the Union and state governments to come up with a policy to issue firearms and protective equipment like helmets and bulletproof vests to foresters. The bench, led by Chief Justice of India S.A. Bobde, also suggested that a special wildlife cell be set up in the Enforcement Directorate as the illegal trade of wildlife and forest resources often involves proceeds in foreign currency. The apex court’s observations brought into focus how vulnerable forest department staff are to attacks by encroachers, timber mafias, and poachers.