Ludhiana, Aug. 1 -- A joint team of the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), the wildlife department and Punjab Police rescued two black kites and a jackal from the residence of a social media influencer in Sekhdaun village near Jagraon after a few his Instagram posts showed protected animals being kept in captivity.

The operation was carried out at the house of Ranjit Singh Rana following a complaint by Narinder Singh, an officer with the Ludhiana Wildlife Range. According to the complaint, several videos uploaded on Rana's Instagram account allegedly showed protected wild animals being confined, prompting the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau's northern region sub-regional office in Amritsar to conduct a joint raid.

During the search, of...