CHANDRAPUR: A team of foresters on Sunday morning seized 2.5kg fresh meat of spotted deer and rescued a month-old fawn from the residence of a habitual poacher, Sonu Singh Tak, at Junona Chowk on the city's outskirts. Though Sonu Singh and his uncle Santosh Singh managed to flee, a customer present at the place for purchasing the meat was nabbed.
A team led by round officer BhushanGajapure conducted the raid after a tip-off from Eco-Pro organization that deer meat was being sold at the house. The fawn was found under a sofa set.
A forest officer said the raiding team could recover only 2.5kg fresh meat as the accused duo had already sold most of it. "The fawn has a serious injury on it back and is unable to stand. The poachers would have killed it soon," he said.
The accused duo have more than half a dozen poaching related offences registered against them at different forest ranges. They hunt animals with country-made guns which were seized from the residence of the accused in the past. Santosh Singh Tak also has offence related to attacking cops during a raid, forest officials claimed.