The poaching case busted by Forest Department handed over to police for further investigation

The Hindu

2 days ago

Thirteen days after the Forest Department busted a deer poaching case and arrested a 31-year-old private vehicle driver, hunting spotted deer in Bannerghatta and Kolar forest area for meat, the Forest Department officials on Saturday approached the jurisdictional Bannerghatta police seeking help to probe further.
The Forest Department officials will continue probing the case under Wildlife Act, but they have no provision to probe the case under Arms Act, to ascertain the source of weapons. Meanwhile, the accused who has been arrested and remanded to judicial custody is out on bail.
The forest officials on June 29 caught Pratap and seized two cars on Bannerghatta-NICE Road junction, a bike, two guns, and large quantities of deer meat. While Pratap was arrested on the spot, three of his associates managed to escape and efforts are on to track them now .
The raid was carried out on the directions of Forest Minister Ishwar Khandre, that a gang was illegally hunting deer in the forests of Kolar and Bannerghatta and selling the meat.
Inside, officials discovered the carcasses of four spotted deer and one wild boar. The officials based on his information raided a godown in C.K. Palya where he had stored more meat.
A raid on the shed uncovered additional deer carcasses and meat, along with a bike, another car, one double-barrel and one single-barrel gun, 10 live cartridges, and a total haul of nine deer, one wild boar, and 74 kg of meat, the official said.
The shed owner, Bheemappa, along with associates Balaraju and Ramesh, are currently absconding. A case has been filed under relevant sections of the Wildlife Protection Act.
The officials have now handed over the seized weapons to the Police along with the complaint since the forest officials do not have provision to probe under Arms Act. The accused was reportedly using foreign made weapon and the probe will be on ascertain the source of weapon, a police officer said. Since the accused is presently out on bail, efforts are on to summon him again for questioning.