Forest personnel apprehended a 5-member gang of suspected poachers for smuggling the carcass of a spotted deer after killing it in Yedabetta forest here on Monday.
The arrested have been identified as Balaraju, Joseph and Dovi of Basavapura; Venkatesh and Muniraju of Begahalli.
A Tata Sumo car, two rifles, knives, torches and 3 country-made rifles were seized from them. The suspects were produced before a court which remanded them in judicial custody.
According to the forest department sources, the accused were transporting the carcass of the 3-year-old female deer after shooting and killing it.
Conservator of Forests and Director of the BRT Reserve, S S Lingaraju, said the accused confessed to sneaking into Yennehole region earlier, too, and had hunted down wild boars.
They seem to be professional poachers. They have poached wild animals and disposed of the meat in cities. A probe is on, Lingaraju said. The team that caught the poachers included Range Forest Officer M Mahadevaiah, Krishnamurthy, K Suresh, Naziulla Sharieff, R Rajashekar, B Nagaraju and Ravi.