A special court in Delhi on Thursday denied anticipatory bail to a national-level shooter.
A special court in Delhi on Thursday denied anticipatory bail to a national-level shooter in an alleged case of running a poaching and illegal arms racket. Special judge Sudesh Kumar denied the relief to Prashant Vishnoi. The court noted that a number of incriminating items, including skulls, skin and meat of wild animals have been seized from his premises along with arms and ammunition and a huge amount of cash.
The court also said that some other agencies along with the Wildlife Department were likely to take action against him.
The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) had on May 1 arrested three persons, including a Slovenian, for their alleged involvement in a major gunrunning and wildlife smuggling racket.
The arrests were made after raids at Mr Vishnoi's house in Uttar Pradesh's Meerut. Mr Vishnoi is the son of a retired army colonel.
The accused were intercepted by officials of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on their arrival at the IGI Airport by a Turkish Airlines flight from Slovenia's capital Ljubljana via Istanbul on Saturday.
They were carrying 25 illegally imported lethal weapons.
They had incorrectly declared the quantity and value of the arms and ammunition to the customs officials and tried to get these items cleared by misusing the scheme meant for renowned shooters, he said.
Rules permit professional shooters to import a limited quantity of arms and ammunition for practice.
The trio -- Amit Goyal, Anil Kumar Langan and Boris Sobotic Mikolic -- have been arrested for allegedly violating customs rules to evade payment of import duty, he said. The DRI officials also seized Rs 1.04 crore in cash from them, the official said. The trio are currently in the judicial custody.
Prior to the arrest, the DRI had carried out searches on multiple locations, including Mr Vishnoi's house and seized over hundred illegally imported firearms, 117 kg of Nilgai meat, horns and skins of leopards and blackbucks.
Nothing specific has come out against the retired army officer, said the agency.
The firearms of various make and models -- Glock (Austria), Italy-made Beretta, Arsenal, Benelle and Blaser (Germany) -- were seized along with expensive cameras, thermal imaging binoculars and cartridges during the raids.