A 22-year-old tribal man was arrested by Forest Department officials for poaching wild animals in the Kaniyambadi reserve forest (RF) on the outskirts of Vellore town. Forest officials said that nine country-made guns, a Mahindra Bolero Camper (five-seater pickup truck), explosives, nets, mobile phones, torches and batteries were seized from him.
It was during a routine patrol in the forest that a five-member team led by P. Ravi Kumar, forest range officer (Vellore range), found G. Sudhakar, 22, a resident of Keel Salakuppam hamlet, Nammiyampattu village in Jawadhu Hills, Tiruvannamalai, deep inside the reserve forest, a prohibited area, at around 6.30 p.m. on Friday. Based on alerts from mango cultivators in the area, a Forest team was patrolling the RF when they spotted the vehicle and the poachers. “We found the country-made guns in the vehicle, covered with a tarpaulin,” Mr. Ravi Kumar told The Hindu.
The RF is located only around one km from the Chittoor- Cuddalore Highway towards Arani town. Along with two of his accomplices, the owner of the vehicle and his neighbour, V. Udayakumar (29), Sudhakar was driving the vehicle in the forest. Once they saw the Forest team in their jeep, they tried to escape, leaving behind their belongings. However, the team managed to nab Sudhakar. Forest officials said the truck was headed to distribute guns to other poachers, who were on two-wheelers in various spots in the RF, for hunting.
Initial inquiries revealed that Sudhakar, a school dropout, worked as wage labourer in the tribal hamlet. As the income from his job was inadequate, Forest officials said that he has been visiting the RF to hunt small wild animals for sale. Along with others, he had procured the country-made guns from neighbouring Kerala, for the hunting of small wild animals. The Kaniyambadi RF is known for a large number of spotted deer, wild boar, peacocks and rabbits as the RF is a contiguous area of the Jawadhu Hills.
A case has been registered under the Indian Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. The man was sent to 14 days of judicial custody and lodged at Central Prison in Vellore on Saturday.
