Eating leopard lands Assam student leader in police lock-up after images go viral

Guwahati: In a strange incident, an Assam student leader on Tuesday was arrested for putting up a social media post where he claimed that he had eaten a leopard along with his friends. Dimbeswas Rabha, the main accused, had allegedly posted a photograph on social media with a dead leopard, saying that he and his friends enjoyed a hearty meal after hunting it. Soon after his post went viral, the forest department sprung into action and nabbed him.

Rabha, who is also the organising secretary of All Rabha Students' Unions Kamrup Unit,  was picked up from the Boko area in the Kamrup district on Tuesday night.

It has been learnt that Rabha, along with his friends, killed a leopard in the jungles of Bamunigaon, close to his residence. After verifying the facts, the Protection Range of Bamunigaon Forest Range immediately swung into action and arrested Rabha. The operation was led by the Protection Ranger of Bamunigaon Range Khagen Chandra Bharali and Deputy Ranger Siddhartha Sinha.

Forest officials have confirmed the incident and have said that the student leader has been handed over to the police. "We got the photographs and ascertained the incident. After checking all elements we detained him from his residence and as per the protocol he has been handed over to the police," said Ranger Khagen Chandra Bharali.

He added that if convicted, Rabha could face seven years of imprisonment for the crime.

Meanwhile, Dimbeswar Rabha has claimed that he has been framed and it is a conspiracy hatched by his rivals. "I didn't kill the leopard. It was poisoned by some other people. I went to the spot, but didn't inform the Forest Department," he said.

He also claimed that those who had framed him were with him on that day and it was they who had consumed the meat of the leopard. "It was they who ate it. I didn't eat it. They want to overthrow me from my position and that's why they hatched this conspiracy," Rabha said.