Raipur
A tip-off to forest officials led to the arrest of two villagers for allegedly poaching a chital (spotted deer) inside the core area of the Udanti-Sitanadi Tiger Reserve in Gariyaband district, officials said on Tuesday.
A joint team comprising the reserve’s anti-poaching squad, staff of the North Udanti wildlife range and a dog squad conducted searches at the homes of Naresh Kumar Bhujia (31) and Balaram Sori (39) in Amad village on June 21 after obtaining a search warrant.
During the raid, officials recovered cooked chital meat stored in a tiffin box along with four blood-stained arrows, two bows, two slingshots, five rabbit traps, seven peacock feathers, four eagle feathers and other hunting equipment.
The suspects were taken to the Mainpur forest range office for questioning. During interrogation, Naresh Kumar allegedly admitted to hunting the chital with a bow and arrow near Taripari Ghat on June 17. Forest officials later took him to the spot, where he identified the location of the alleged hunt.
A forest offence case (No. 38/03) was registered under various provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. The accused were arrested by Amad deputy ranger Punaram Sahu and produced before the District and Additional Sessions Court, Gariyaband.
The operation was carried out under the supervision of Udanti-Sitanadi Tiger Reserve director Gurunathan N. and involved anti-poaching nodal officer and assistant director Gopal Kashyap, range officer Jyoti Dhruv, field staff and tracking dog Tina.
Meat samples seized during the operation have been preserved and sent to the School of Wildlife Forensic and Health in Jabalpur for forensic examination.
