New Delhi: A police complaint has been lodged against Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, spiritual leader Sadhguru and others for allegedly violating wildlife protection laws during their night safari in the Kaziranga Nation Park. However, Assam Chief Minister has dismissed all the allegations laid on him and Sadhguru and called them "baseless".
Sarma on Sunday said that there is no law that people cannot visit the park at night. The police complaint against Assam CM, Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev and state tourism minister Jayanta Malla Baruah was filed by two activists Soneswar Narah and Prabin Pegu claiming that they violated the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972, when they entered the national park beyond the scheduled time on Saturday, as reported by ANI.
The activists alleged that the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 bans safari tours inside the national park after a scheduled time to protect animals and keep their habitat relatively untouched. Videos surfaced on social media and local channels showed Vasudev driving an open safari SUV along with Sarma and Baruah.
"There is no violation. According to wildlife law, the warden can give permission to enter a protected area even at night. No law stops people from entering at night. Yesterday, we had the formal opening of the park for this season and now Sadhguru and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar have arrived. Since they have lakhs of followers, this time we expect the tourist season will be very good for Kaziranga," news agency ANI quoted Sarma saying on Sunday night.
The two activists Narah and Pegu who filed the complaint with the Golaghat district police demanded action against them under the Wildlife Protection Act.
(With ANI Inputs)