Five persons - two men from Kerala and three persons from the tribal community who helped the duo hunt a Mouse Deer - were arrested by Forest Department personnel near Gudalur in The Nilgiris, on Wednesday night.
The deer’s skin, meat, two country-made guns, 12 bullets, eight empty cartridges, gun powder, pellets and two SUVs were seized from the accused.
Assistant Conservator of Forests for Gudalur Sub-Division A. Pushpakaran said that the department personnel were involved in night rounds in the forest based on information that some persons were involved in poaching at Padanthorai area and nearby forest areas in Gudalur on Wednesday when they heard gun firing.
On investigating, they reached a cottage at Padanthorai that the accused Mohammed Rafiq (42) and Mohammed Sohail (40) from Manjeri in Malappuram district, Kerala, had illegally taken on lease and were hunting with the help of three tribal men – who were identified as Ramesh (20), Kannan (26) and Kuttan (23) of Padanthorai.
They were booked under sections of the Wildlife Protection Act and were arrested as Mouse Deer is an endangered animal that is classified as a Schedule – I animal. The forest personnel also said that the police will be registering cases against the group under sections of the Arms and Ammunition Act for illegal possession of weapons.
Forest personnel said they were investigating if the accused were regularly hunting deer and other wild animals.
