A 38-year-old man has been arrested by Mysuru City police while he was trying to transport deer antlers in a flight to Hyderabad.
The accused, Karthik Reddy, a native of Tamil Nadu, was caught by the security personnel at Mysuru airport before he was to board the Indigo Airlines flight to Hyderabad on Friday night. He was handed over to the city police.
A resident of Chengalpet district in Tamil Nadu, Mr. Reddy told the police that he found the broken pieces of antlers lying by the roadside while he was coming to Mysuru from Ooty via Bandipur. He had collected the pieces of antlers, wrapped them in a piece of paper, and was trying to take them with him.
According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) A.N. Prakash Gowda, the accused is still being interrogated. “He said he was taking the antlers for use in preparing medicine for his mother, who suffered from knee joints”, Mr. Gowda said.
A case has been registered under the Wildlife Protection Act in Vidyaranyapuram police station in Mysuru.