The Forest Department has registered separate cases against 12 persons in connection with the hunting of two spotted deer near Coimbatore.
In the first incident, officials of Coimbatore forest range received specific information that a deer was hunted within the limits of Anaikatti central forest beat on June 18.
A Forest Department team rushed to the place and searched the house of K. Murugan (55) of Thoovaipathi village around 10 p.m. and found cooked and uncooked venison. Murugan had hunted a spotted deer using snares outside the reserve forest.
He told the staff that the meat was sold to two known persons, namely K. Murugan (49) and K. Duraisamy (65) of Anaikatti. The duo had further sold the venison to three others – P. Karuppaiyan (39), P. Jayakumar (31) and A. Jegannathan (39), all residents of Anaikatti.
The staff searched the farmland of Murugan of Thoovaipathi the next day and found remains of the hunted deer, the snare and the knife used to procure the venison. The Forest Department registered a case against the six persons and slapped a total fine of Rs 1.25 lakh on them.
In the second incident, Forest Department staff searched the residence of L. Rangasamy (65) at Moongilpallam outside Anaikatti south reserve forest late on Tuesday based on specific information of a poaching.
They found that a deer was hunted by Rangasamy’s dog and he had shared the meat with five others – K. Babu (40), S. Subramani (45), K. Ramu (30), K. Sivadas (37) and K. Kanthasamy (81). The Department registered a case against the six persons and slapped a total fine of ₹1.50 lakh against them.
