Two persons were arrested on Friday for poaching wild animals in Sanakuppam reserve forest (RF) near Ambur town in Tirupattur.
Forest officials said that a country-made gun, explosives, pellets, nets, torch lights and batteries were seized from them. It was during a routine patrol in the forests near the Palar river, that a six-member team of forest officials found the duo inside the reserve forest, a prohibited area, around 1 a.m. on Friday. They were climbing down a small hillock with a torch. However, they did not notice the forest officials, who were at the foothills in their jeep.
After seeing light in the hillock, the team got alert and rounded up the pathway at the foothills along which the poachers were coming down. The team nabbed the two accused and seized the country-made weapon. “They were looking for wild animals in the forest that had spotted deer and wild boars in large numbers. They claimed that they were farmers who had lost their way to the village. They were lying,” L. Sankaraiah, Forest Range Officer (Ambur range), told The Hindu. Initial inquiries revealed the identity of the duo — G. Kamaraj, 23, and R. Harikrishnan, 32. They belonged to Mayaneri village, located in the fringes of the reserve forest near Madhanur within Ambur forest range. They procured the country made gun from neighbouring Kerala through contacts for hunting animals. Cases have been filed against them. Officials said that Ambur range has nine RFs with Sanakuppam forest remaining the thickly wooded area, covering over 3,000 hectares. More importantly, the Sanakuppam forest is known for red sandalwood trees, making forest officials guard them round-the-clock. It was during such patrolling, the forest officials nabbed the two. EOM