Inside information helped Kerala forest enforcers on Sunday bust a gang of poachers who operated with apparent impunity in the Kulathupuzha and Palode forest ranges for long.
The case has piqued immense public curiosity as the suspects included three police officers who are accused of using their uniform and patrol van as a cover for hunting game, mostly deer and wild buffalo, in Ponmudi.
Wildlife crime investigators said the gang was aided by a postmaster who was an expert in crafting and handling country-made muzzleloaders. They said three Gulf-based businessmen from Kollam financed the illegal hunting. The gang had remained off the Forest Department’s radar for long.
Acting on the tip-off, Forest Range Officer, Kulathupuzha, Abdul Jaleel, raided the house of one Shameer at Oonthu Pacha in Kollam and seized nearly 5 kg of meat.
Of Sambar deer
A Forest veterinarian testified the flesh to be that of Sambar deer, a protected species.
Investigators have sent a sample to the Rajiv Gandhi Biotechnology Centre (RGBC) here for further forensic validation.
Their interrogation revealed that the gang had shot the 45 kg animal with a muzzle-loader in the forests adjacent to the 21st hair-pin bend en route to Ponmudi hill station around 1.30 a.m. on Sunday.
Investigators said Manu, postmaster of Madathara-Kollai post office, took the shot. The projectile penetrated the left deer flank. It bolted and fell dead 25 m away from the spot where the poachers had sighted it in the police van’s headlights.
Officials said the accused carted the carcass through the Anappara check-post, which the police officers used their authority to open, to the house of a suspect. They divided up the meat and parted ways.
DFO, Thiruvananthapuram, D. Ratheesh, has asked the police to surrender the van for forensic examination. He has informed the Postal Department of Manu’s alleged role in the offence.
They were yet to recover the firearm used for killing the deer. However, the raid yielded an illegal12-bore shotgun, cartridges and powder, and shot used in muzzle-loaders.
