Requesting the release of Dr. Petr vбcha, (Senior Scientist at Institute of Entomology, Academy of Sciences of Czech Republic) arrested in Singalila National Park, Darjeeling (West Bengal).

Sir,
Sub: Requesting the release of Dr. Petr vбcha, (Senior Scientist at Institute of Entomology, Academy of Sciences of Czech Republic) arrested in Singalila National Park, Darjeeling (West Bengal).

We are writing to express our deep concern about the arrest of Dr. Petr vбcha, an eminent Czech entomologist, by the forest officials in India for collecting insects in Singalila National Park, Darjeeling (West Bengal) and seek your kind intervention to help secure his immediate release. He has apparently been accused of collecting for the 'Chinese Medicine market', and the beetles they have collected have been valued at 6000-7000 rupees each specimen!

Dr. Petr Svacha is well known to us as a world-renowned specialist on sawyer beetle larvae and a serious academic and we dont think that he was collecting insects for any commercial purpose. He has been a Senior Scientist at the Institute of Entomology, Academy of Sciences of Czech Republic (formerly "Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences") in Иeskй Budмjovice, Czech Republic, since 1985. His main scientific interest is in a group of beetles whose larvae live in wood, namely, beetles of the family Cerambycidae (longhorn beetles). He is the Managing Editor of the European Journal of Entomology, a well-known scientific journal edited by the Institute of Entomology (http://www.eie.cz/ ) .

Dr. Svacha is a great enthusiast, known for his passion for work. The beetles he collects are for his Institutes scientific collection, and the collection consists mainly of beetle larvae, which are very difficult to identify. We are convinced that Dr. Svacha was motivated purely by his work and he was collecting beetles for no other reason than for research and not for any commercial purposes. We believe that the incident resulted from a misunderstanding as he probably did not realize that he had entered a protected area / national park where collecting insects was illegal. We realize that Dr. Svacha has erred in attempting to sample material in a Protected Area of a foreign country without properly enquiring about its permit requirements and other legalities. Yet, considering his reputation among the scientific community as a Scientist with impeccable credentials and his old age and frailty, we feel he should not be punished any more. So we seek your kind intervention to pardon Dr. Petr vбcha and secure his release with immediate effect.