COIMBATORE: Forest officials in Coimbatore on Friday arrested two poachers and seized 17kg of deer meat, 25kg of wild boar meat and four unlicensed rifles from them.
The poachers have been identified as K Sathyanathan, 48, son of a retired forest officer, and his brother-in-law, N Bharath, 45.
Sathyanathan was working as a personal assistant to former Trichy mayor Sarubala R Thondaiman. Police said Sathyanathan's father-in- law, Nagarajan, was also a former district forest officer.
"We have arrested the duo for poaching deer and wild boars. Four unlicensed rifles were also seized from them. They will be handed over to police after interrogation," said M Senthil Kumar, district forest officer, Coimbatore forest division.
Acting on a tip off from an NGO, forest officials conducted a surprise raid at a farmhouse at Mullankadu near Semmedu, which falls under Boluvampatti forest range.
Sathyanathan and Bharath concealed the meat under beef and kept them in a freezer. They poached the wild animals in the reserve forest area at Mullankadu.
