Odisha: YouTuber Couple Surrenders Before Forest Dept For Sharing Images of Wild Animals on Social Media

A team of forest personnel raided their residence at Jahala village of Beruda panchayat under Sadar police station on March 24. (Image: News18)

A YouTuber couple from Odisha’s Jajpur district surrendered before the state’s Forest Department for allegedly uploading wild animals videos and photos on social media, thereby violating the Wildlife Act.

The couple, Monalisa Bhadra and her husband Badrinarayan surrendered before the forest officials, four days after the department raided their house.

The couple was warned to not post photos and videos taken with wild animals and to refrain from such illegal activity. The couple has allegedly domesticated a few monkeys at their residence and has been taking selfies with wild animals and posting them on social media platforms.

A team of forest personnel raided their residence at Jahala village of Beruda panchayat under Sadar police station on March 24. A monkey kept in captivity was seized from their house during the raid and a case was registered against the couple, while initiating a detailed probe. However, the duo absconded at that time.

“Despite written undertaking they did not abstain from doing so. Action will be taken against them”, said Jajpur forest ranger Jyoti Ranjan Mohapatra.