The Anamalai police have booked seven persons under Sections of the Arms Act in connection with a seizure of country-made rifle, ammunition and parts of rifle by the Forest Department from a house at Semmedu in May last year.
The case has been registered against S. Balakrishnan (48) from Semmedu, M. Sundararaj (51) from Periyapodhu, V. Prakash (29) from Nedumbarai, K. Tamilarasan (38), P. Duraisamy (62), K. Kalimuthu alias Kanagaraj (55) and T. Ganesh (35) from Marappagonden Pudur.
According to the police, a Forest Department team from the Pollachi range of the Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) raided the house of Balakrishnan on May 4, 2019 and found that the accused were processing venison.
While investigating further, the Department found a list of 21 items, including a country-made rifle, two rifle barrels, two rifle firing pins, live rounds, cases of used rounds and different parts of rifles in the house.
“The accused were arrested and remanded in judicial custody for the wildlife offence. The seized weapon, parts and ammunition were later examined in a laboratory. Based on the findings, the first judicial magistrate court directed Arockiaraj Xavier, Deputy Field Director of ATR and District Forest Officer of Pollachi Forest Division, to lodge a complaint with the Anamalai police, seeking to register a case under the Arms Act. They were booked on Wednesday,” said Karuppasamy Pandian, sub-inspector of Anamalai police station.
As the accused were already arrested and remanded, the police will file chargesheet against them for the case registered under the Arms Act, he added.
