Department of Forest and Wildlife on Sunday seized 11 kg of Chital or spotted deer meat near Srimushnam in Cuddalore.
G. Kumar, Chief Wildlife Warden, Department of Forest and Wildlife, said that they held Ramki (25) and Raja (31) from Srimushnam in Cuddalore district.
On a tip-off, seven officials from the Department of Forest and Wildlife along with five members of TRAFFIC, The Wildlife Trade Monitoring Network, held the accused when they were bringing the meat at Kanni Koil in Puducherry to be sold to a person in Veerampattinam.
Ramki confessed to the forest department officials that he had killed a spotted deer at Kallakurichi in Villupuram district, while Raja said he was unaware about selling the deer meat and that he was promised Rs. 100 if he accompanied Ramki.
Mr. Kumar said that the department officials will conduct raids in hotels and bars in the coming week to bust the supply chain. “This is the first time we have seized meat of spotted deer. Without demand there cannot be supply. Over the coming week, we will conduct a series of raids to check where the meat is supplied,” he said and added that even buying meat of spotted deer is an offence under Wildlife Protection Act.
