Brothers up in arms

As the fallout of a family feud, officers of the forest department are investigating the curious case of a stuffed leopard trophy inside a sprawling flat in Bombay’s tony Malabar Hill. Darayus and Cyrus Vazifdar, two brothers who are warring with each other, have drawn a physical line running through the middle of the house which they "share,” demarcating their respective space, reports Mumbai Mirror of April 11, 2007. Recently, when Darayus refused Cyrus permission to put up a partition where the line is, the latter retaliated by tipping off the forest department about the exquisite stuffed leopard owned by the former and watched happily as officers of the anti-poaching department raided their flat, stated the tabloid report. The leopard is a Standard I animal. Possession of a trophy without a certificate of ownership is a non-bailable offence for which the offender could face imprisonment for three to seven years and a fine of Rs 16,000.

Darayus, an antiques dealer, claims that his brother is being "childish” and is out to harass him, states the Mirror. "The officers just came for verification of the leopard trophy. It was gifted to our family 40 years ago by our family friend Salim Barodawala. When I separated from my brother, the trophy became my possession,” he told the paper. However, he reportedly was unable to produce the requisite papers and sought a week’s time to do so. "We have registered the case under sections 9, 39, 40, 42 of the Wildlife Protection Act, which refers to charges like hunting, violation of government property and not possessing ownership certificate,” revealed Satish Phale, assistant conservator of forests, according to the news report. "We wanted to give him a chance to prove his innocence and have therefore allowed him seven days to present his case,” added Sarfaraz Khan, chief conservator.

The Vazifdars have filed several complaints and counter-complaints against each other at the Malabar Hill Police Station, stated the Mirror.