Personnel of the Department of Forests arrested two persons on the charge of hunting a sambar in the forest near Gajanur in Shettyhalli Wildlife Sanctuary limits, near here, on Friday.

The arrested have been identified as J. Chandru and Vinay Kumar, residents of Gajanur village.

According to Forest officials, the arrested, along with Raghu, Kumarappa and Srinivas, had hunted the deer with a rifle. Acting on a tip-off that they were

sharing the meat on the outskirts of the village, the Forest personnel conducted a raid and managed to arrest two people.

Three other accomplices have managed to escape. The skull of the hunted deer, 20 kg meat and a knife were seized. Forest personnel and the police have launched a manhunt to nab the other three accused.

Cases have been booked under various provisions of The Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.