Forest officers attached to Tanigebailu wildlife range arrested 11 persons, including four Bengalureans, on Sunday on charges of hunting two deer near Nettichowka village and seized two four-wheelers from them. The Forest Department staff posted at the forest checkpost near Kammannu Gundi in Tarikere taluk stopped the vehicles around 5 a.m. on Sunday and found the carcass of a deer and 70 kg of meat of another deer. The accused visited the forests for hunting, besides a new year party.
A total of 12 people were involved in the offence. Rafeek, a resident of Richmond Town in Bengaluru, is absconding. The arrested are Akhthar Ahmed (67) of Sakleshpur, M.Ali (22) , Mohammed Rizwan (36), Meer Nair Ali (23), Meer Nazeer Ali (18), Syed Aman, a software engineer with a reputed IT company, all residents of Bengaluru, Mohammed Sameer Ahmed (29) of Sakleshpur, Arun (23), Prasanna (18), Chethan (26) and Harish (25) – all residents of a village near Kemmannugundi. It is said that the accused from Bengaluru had consulted the local people, who were also arrested, in advance and arranged the new year party in the forest area.
Villagers of Nettichowka noticed the act and informed the forest officers, who stopped the accused at the check-post. They seized a Bolero Pickup and a Mahindra jeep from the arrested. M.Ullas, Range Forest Officer, has filed the cases against the accused under the relevant sections of Wildlife Protection Act 1972. The accused reportedly admitted to have used arms during the hunting; however, the staff is yet to locate them. The arrested have been remanded to judicial custody.
