Mysuru: Nagarahole forest team foils poaching bid; one arrested, two on the run after midnight raid

Hunsur: Acting on specific intelligence, the Forest department officials of the Nagarahole Tiger Reserve (NTR) foiled a wildlife poaching attempt in the early hours of Sunday, April 12. While one accused has been apprehended, two others managed to flee the scene, under the cover of darkness.

Following instructions from Seema, Deputy Conservator of Forests and Director of NTR, and Lakshmikanth, Assistant Conservator of Forests, Hunsur Wildlife Sub-division, a special team was formed to monitor the Jargal beat's Woodlot forest area, under Veeranahosahalli Wildlife Range.

At approximately 2.30 am, the team spotted three individuals entering the forest illegally, on a motorcycle, armed with a gun and intending to hunt wildlife via the Hindugudlu-Bharathavadi road.

As the forest staff moved in, to detain the group, the officials captured the prime accused, identified as Ramegowda alias ‘Pitil’ Ramu, son of Venkategowda, a resident of Hindugudlu village.

The officials seized one two-wheeler (registration no: KA 45 L 6053), one machete (long knife), three empty plastic bags and one torchlight.

The accused, Ramegowda, was produced before the magistrate and has been remanded to judicial custody until April 15. Meanwhile, the forest department personnel have launched a manhunt for the two absconding suspects - Srinivasa alias Dasa, son of Manjegowda and Yashwanth alias Rahul, son of Ramesh, both of Shindenahalli village.

The team comprised of Range Forest Officer S Vinod Gowda, Deputy Range Forest Officers Sahana S Patil and Shilpa, beat foresters Venkatesh, Narayan Rao, Shamantha, Avinash, and Shilpa and forest watchers Gayathri, Shanta Kumar, and Shivakumar.