Authorities detaching top abbots who are suspected of engaging in illegal hunting
PUBLISHED: 27 Apr 2024 at 16: 13
As regulators continue their research for the municipal assistant priest suspected of participating in illegal hunting, two Buddhist monks who were detained for hunting in the Phu Khiao Wildlife Sanctuary have been released on bail.
On Thursday, beginner hunters Atikhun Maneewong and Phra Maha Montri were apprehended for killing wild animals in the sanctuary in northeast Thailand. On connection provided by their friends, they were released on Saturday.
Authorities found weapon and six sheep parts, including rooster antlers, in their hands. The Department of National Parks, Wildlife, and Plant Conservation has charged them with hunting in a secured area and keeping improper dog remains.
After being spotted at a hunting station by forest officers and men who were monitoring fire spots in the jungle area on Thursday, authorities are now looking into the case of another seven suspects who managed to evade record.
Kritapas Chaiyapana, representing the National Office of Buddhism in Chaiyaphum, discussed the issue with the country’s acting priest on Saturday, given the noted engagement of Phra Sri Sajayanmuni, the provincial assistant priest and mind of Wat Huay Hin Fon, a famous temple.
The acting abbot said that a memo had been issued earlier to warn against poaching in the sanctuary, which covers 1, 560 square kilometres.
The hunters being pursued are suspected to be members of the same group that were repeatedly caught in Nong Bua Daeng district, according to Wichanon Sanpala, the wildlife sanctuary’s director.
He claimed that the majority of these thieves are Phra Sri Sajayanmuni’s relatives or followers.