Deer ‘hunter’ lands in police net

Bangalore Mirror , Saturday, December 14, 2013
Correspondent :
He was caught red-handed trying to sell three pairs of sambar and spotted deer horns for Rs 75,000 per antler, promising that they would bring improve the Vastu

A man who was caught red-handed selling two pairs of sambar horns and one pair of spotted deer horns was arrested by the CID forest sleuths following an undercover operation. Ashwathnarayan, 43, had attempted to sell the horns for a small fortune — Rs 75,000 for each — but sleuths, who had been tracking him for a week, nabbed the man by posing as buyers on Thursday.

Ashwathnarayan, a resident of Subramanyanagar, told potential buyers that the horns improved the Vastu of buildings in which they were kept. Sleuths believe the man is part of a network that sells wild animal products and are investigating.

The arrest was a result of a week-long undercover operation. Sleuths say the sambar horns which were seized from Ashwathnarayan are rarely seen in Bangalore. "The operation was carried out based on leads on a network of traders operating in city," Ananthaiah, inspector, CID forest cell told Bangalore Mirror.

Sleuths posing as buyers had contacted Ashwathnarayan over the phone. The man had first agreed to sell them a deer skin, horns and other wildlife products, but then decided to sell only the horns to check the credibility of the buyers. He demanded Rs 1 lakh for each horn — two pairs of sambar and a pair of spotted deer — but sleuths negotiated and struck a deal for Rs 75,000 for each horn.

The price was finalised early on Wednesday, but sleuths were made to wait until Thursday before they nabbed their man. "He kept changing the place where we were to meet," Ananthaiah said. "He has been booked under the Wildlife Act. We are investigating his source, their network, others involved, the products they traded and their mode of operation."

Ashwathnarayan eventually came to meet the 'potential buyers', who used a private car instead of an official one, at a spot near Nagarbhavi. He was arrested immediately after he handed over the horns to the 'buyers'. The spotted deer horns were about 38 inches each and the two pairs of sambar deer horns measured about 43 inches. Sleuths say the horns were of adult deer.

Indian spotted deer and sambar are a protected species under Schedule III of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. If charges of entering the forest, poaching and trading protected animals are proved, Ashwathnarayan could serve a jail term of a maximum three years (minimum six months).

"People should stop encouraging or buying wildlife trophies and other products," Sharath R Babu, a wildlife expert said. "This is a serious offence and a probe will unearth more details."

 
SOURCE : http://www.bangaloremirror.com/bangalore/crime/Deer-hunter-lands-in-police-net/articleshow/27310520.cms
 


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