Kelzang Wangchuk | Samdrupjongkhar

Samdrupjongkhar police forwarded a case concerning an illegal possession of the firearms case (Khaduwa) in Dewathang gewog to the Office of Attorney General (OAG) on July 6.

Police charged three men aged 34, 29 and 26 from Dewathang after they allegedly killed a barking deer with the khaduwa owned by the father of the 26-year-old man.

The case first surfaced when officials from the forest and park services division in Samdrupjongkhar received information that the three men killed the deer at Gayzor on April 6.

A team of forest officials, who went to investigate the case, recovered the deer’s skin and seized a firearm from the suspects.

Forest officials said the suspects used a muzzleloader rifle for the hunting.

The divisional forest office officials forwarded the case to the police on April 29 as the suspects have used a firearm for the hunting, which is against the Firearms and Ammunition Act of Bhutan.

The officials also handed over the skin and khaduwa to the police.

Police investigation revealed that the 34-year-old and 29-year-old men went to the 26-year-old man’s house on April 6, after the 26-year-old suspect told his two friends that he needs to maintain his father’s khaduwa.

Police sources said since the two suspects knew that the 26-year-old suspect’s father was not at home that day, they discussed going hunting for animals at Gayzor at 8:30pm to 9pm.

The 34-year-old man killed a barking deer as they found it on the way. The suspects took it to the 26-year-old man’s house and divided it the next day.

However, it was revealed that the khaduwa belongs to the father of one of the suspects. “The man had a valid gun license, but he didn’t know that his son had taken it for hunting on the night of the incident,” an official said.

Forest officials forwarded the case to the forest department in Thimphu and still waiting for the  directives.

Meanwhile, the firearms and Ammunition Act of Bhutan 1990 prohibits mortgaging or lending licensed arms to a third person. A license holder violating the rules shall be liable to a fine of Nu 1,000 or imprisonment ranging from three months to one year.

Edited by Tashi Dema