The arrest of Kamala Kannan of Salem, Krishnan from Ooty, Bomma from Kaniyanpura and Manju from Shivapura has revealed once again that the Gopalaswamy Betta is vulnerable for the anti-wildlife activities. The suspects, armed with equipment like guns, knives, clubs and other hunting equipment, would enter the forest in a four-wheeler to hunt ungulates and small herbivores such as chital, sambar and barking deer. During the interrogation, they confessed to hunting in Bandipur for the last six years. Sources said they used to identify farmers who could converse in Tamil at Gundlupet and make friends with them to gather information.
The team comprising Deputy Conservator of Forests Hanumanthappa and Forester Lokeshmurthy, Forest guards Venkatesh, Kumaraswamy, Naveen and Gajendra Mogera seized two carcasses of black-naped hare and the weapons.
Recently, four persons were arrested while poaching deer in Bilgirirangaswamy Temple Wildlife Sanctuary.
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