Close on the heels of the arrest of nine people on the charge of poaching owls in Sorab recently, another attempt to catch these birds was reported from Holebenavalli near here on Thursday.
According to sources, a nylon net was laid on a tree where the owls had nested. Two owls were trapped in the net, of which one died owing to suffocation, while the second bird was rescued by wildlife activists and Forest Department personnel.
Officials of the Forest Department said that a wider racket was involved in poaching of owls from the forests of Malnad region. They said that the racket was active in the district and that the trapped owls were sold in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and even New Delhi.
It is said that those involved in this racket purchase the owls from the residents of the villages located on the fringe of the forests for anywhere between ₹4 and ₹5 lakh and sold them for a price ranging between ₹15 and ₹20 lakh.
The owls are purchased by those practising black magic. Officials of the Forest Department said that some native medicine practitioners also prepared a kind of soup from the owl meat claiming that its consumption would enhance virility.
According to sources, those arrested in Sorab — during interrogation — told the Forest Department officials that a person, who was posing himself as swamiji from Udupi district, was the kingpin of the racket. The imposter was purchasing these birds from the arrested and was selling them to black magic and native medicine practitioners.
Investigation
Forest officials are also investigating on the data stored in the mobile phones seized from the arrested, including the phone numbers and photographs.
It is said that a few petty shop owners in Tavanandi, Induvalli, Chittur, and surrounding villages in Sorab taluk were in regular contact with the arrested over telephone.
Forest officials suspect that these petty shop owners might have acted as a link between the locals — who poached the owls — and the arrested.
The investigating team has also quizzed these petty shop owners.
Srinivas Eradoni, Assistant Conservator of Forest, Sorab, told The Hindu that acting on the information provided by the arrested during interrogation, the nylon nets laid in the forest in five places to trap the owls were cleared.
Few more persons, involved in the racket, are absconding and they will be nabbed soon, he added.
With regard to the incident in Holebenavalli, forest officials have booked a case against unknown persons under The Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
Owls are found in abundant numbers on the banks of the Tunga and Bhadra rivers. Those involved in illegal trading of owls catch the birds by spreading nylon nets on the trees located on the bank of the two rivers.
