Odisha YouTuber Monalisa Bhadra, husband surrender before Forest officials in Jajpur

Jajpur: Popular YouTuber Monalisa Bhadra and her husband Badrinarayan last night surrendered before Forest officials in Jajpur district, four days after the department raided their house.

Earlier, a team of Forest personnel led by ranger Jyoti Ranjan Mohapatra raided their house on March 24. However, she and her husband absconded before the raid team reached their residence at Jahala village of Beruda panchayat under Sadar police limits.

Again, on the morning of March 25, the team raided the Bhadra couple’s house but to no avail. A monkey kept in captivity was alone seized from their house during a raid. Later, acting on the directives of ACP Anil Kumar Ray, two special teams were formed to arrest the accused couple. Meanwhile, a case has been registered against the Bhadra couple and a detailed probe initiated, which is underway.

Taking selfie with wild animals and posting them on social media platforms is a criminal offence.

According to a source, Monalisa and her husband were previously warned not to post photos and videos taken with wild animals and to refrain from such illegal activity. Allegedly, the couple has domesticated a few Langurs (a species of monkey) at their residence.

Domesticating wild animals is also a serious offence, the senior forest official said mediapersons.

“Bhadra couple had given a written undertaking in 2022 to refrain from such illegal activities. However, they did not abstain from doing so. Action will be taken against them,” the ranger expressed.