Sattari man killed on hunt by cousin’s awry gunshot at wild animal

Panaji: A resident of Advoi in Sattari, Hemant Hirba Desai, 34, was killed on Thursday after being struck by a bullet from the gun fired by his cousin who was aiming at an animal. The gun was fired by Abhijit Narayan Desai, also 34, a resident of Dodamarg, Maharashtra.
DySP Jivba Dalvi said, “Valpoi police have arrested Abhijit for allegedly shooting his cousin while hunting for wild animals in Valpoi.”
Dalvi said that on Thursday at 6.30pm, both men went hunting at a cashew plantation at Fulasaryo at Advoi. At about 9pm, Abhijit loaded the firearm with a cartridge.
“During the hunt, a gunshot was fired from the firearm, which hit Hemant, leading to serious injuries and death,” Dalvi said.
The Valpoi police station received a complaint from the uncle of the deceased, and an offence was registered under sections of various laws, including Section 9 of the Wild Life Protection Act, 1972.
Police conducted a scene of offence panchanama using a forensics team and attached one firearm with an empty cartridge and a scooter.
Dessai has been sent to 5-day police custody.
“The firearm used did not have a valid licence,” Dalvi said. “We have filed a chargesheet in the case.”
He said that last Dec, a similar case of gunfire during hunting occurred. After a thorough investigation, a first information report was registered against five persons — Babu Umar Sanghar, Gaus Noor Ahmad Patel, Rehan Javed Bepari, Altaf Nazir Shaikh, and Sarfaraj Ayub Khan. They were later arrested.