Animal cruelty: Second notice to Naagarjun producer

Mumbai: The Asian Age had earlier reported about a real snake being used on the sets of television show Naagarjun that was supplied by an unidentified person. Ever since, the forest department has been on the lookout for the snake owner who supplied the reptile to the show. A second notice has been sent to producer Yash Patnaik who failed to turn up after the first one was sent. He faces arrest in the event he does not show up at the department’s Thane office even after a third notice.

Meanwhile, officials are tracing call records of two suspects.

Upon interrogating the show’s actors, officials suspected a man who was in touch with the production house to have supplied the snake.

“While questioning the actors, we came to know that one Mr Anand was in touch with the serial’s crew in order to provide them with a snake. After investigating further, we came to know that a register is maintained to keep record of people arriving on the sets. We have accessed the register and located two suspects who are being traced at present.”

The forest department will send a third notice to Mr Patnaik and if he does a no-show even after that, he will be arrested. “The fact that they aren’t cooperating with us indicates something is amiss,” said Santosh Kank, rain forest officer, Thane forest department.

When contacted, Mr Patnaik’s assistant, M. Patil, said, “I do not have an idea about the matter and will have to ask my senior about the same.”  

Pawan Sharma, founder, Resquink Association of Wildlife Welfare (RAWW), said, “Cases of torturing snakes on the small screen mostly go unreported due to lack of awareness. This appears to be the first such case that has been highlighted and well followed by the department.”

The issue was highlighted when the actors of Naagarjun posted pictures with a Cobra (a schedule 2 species) on completion of 100 episodes of the show. The team that claimed to use special effects and not use a live snake was proven wrong when the report from Kalina forensic laboratory proved that the snake in the post was real and not the result of special effects.

Thereafter, the department on January 17 registered a FIR against the actors under sections 9, 39, 48 and 51 of the Wildlife Protection Act (WPA) 1972.