Hunter shot accidentally during illegal wild pig hunting operation in Himachal Pradesh

Hamirpur: A 55-year-old hunter was killed after being accidentally shot by his fellow companion during an illegal hunting operation in the Badehar gram panchayat area of the Himachal Pradesh district, police on Wednesday said.

The incident took place late Tuesday evening when a team of local hunters had surrounded an area where a large number of wild pigs were seen, the villagers said.

One of the shooters while hunting fired a shot at a wild pig but instead of hitting the animal, the bullet went across the body of one of his companions, who died on the spot, they said.

The deceased has been identified as Balbir Singh from Badehar village, police said, adding that his body has been sent for post-mortem.

The hunter, who opened fire has been arrested by the Bhoranj police and booked for murder besides other relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), police said.

Hunting is banned in Himachal Pradesh and investigations are underway in the case, they said.