A barking deer calf was allegedly killed by a forest guard in the forests of Chack Sadhu area of Hoshiarpur district.

Forest Guard Ranjodh Singh and his accomplice Harpreet Singh of Udesian village, who were caught transporting the body of the barking deer calf in their jeep on Sunday night by Forest Department officials, are in custody.

Ranjodh Singh and Harpreet Singh were nabbed by a team of the Forest Department, deployed by the Hoshiarpur-based Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Mr R.R. Kakkar, following a tip-off that some “shikaris” were indulging in poaching in Chack Sadhu area.

The search of a Mahindra Jeep, which was signalled to stop by the team near the Chack Sadhu-Bachoi road joint, not only yielded forest guard Ranjodh Singh, but also the body of the calf of a barking deer in the dickey of the jeep.

Ranjodh and Harpreet Singh were arrested and presented before the Judicial Magistrate, who remanded them in judicial custody till May 30.

Ranjodh, it may be mentioned, is the third government official, to fall into the trap of the Hoshiarpur forest authorities, which have been in news for booking an SDM and a Wildlife Inspector for allegedly harming animals of the area in the past two years.

Ranjodh Singh, according to Mr Kakkar, has been suspended.

Meanwhile, since the Animal Husbandry department authorities have expressed their inability to conduct the post-mortem the carcass of the animal has been sent to Dehra Dun for post-mortem. Ranjodh Singh and Harpreet Singh have been booked under Sections 9,39,49, 50 and 51 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972.