Poachers selling wild boar meat caught by Karnataka Forest Department officials
The accused used illegal weapons to hunt wild boars in forest areas, after which they sold the meat to locals. They were caught while trying to dispose of the meat in an attempt to escape being caught by officials.
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FollowBengaluru: Wildlife rescuers from Karnataka Forest Department (KFD) and Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) caught two poachers who were trying to get rid of 30 kgs of wild boar meat on Wednesday. Forest officials were tipped off by locals about wild boars being illegally killed and their meat being sold to locals.
Veerabhadraiah (40) and Siddaraju (60) who hail from Bidadi are now in judicial custody along with three others. According to AL Dalesh, range forest officer of Ramanagara district, poachers like these are rarely found in the area. He stated that locals who saw the poachers selling illegal meat complained to the officials, after which the poachers were nabbed. “A police complaint has been filed against them. The accused have been booked under the Wildlife Protection Act and are currently in custody,” Dalesh said.AL Dalesh added that the accused used to hunt boars illegally in forest areas outside Bidadi. They reportedly had weapons too.
Sharath Babu, a BBMP authorized official of KFD, said that they were informed about the illegal supply of wild boar meat a few times over the last few days and that this time around, they were able to track down the source. Sharath Babu also confirmed that the accused were caught trying to get rid of the meat fearing that they would be caught by forest officials.
Since the wild boar population is quite high, licensed weapon holders are permitted to hunt wild boars outside forest areas.
Ramanagara police on Thursday, visited the poachers’ homes to check if they were in possession of any other illegal weapons, but could not find any. The police are still on the lookout for a gun which the poachers possessed illegally to hunt wild boars. Police also seized a small gas cylinder, several knives, buckets, bags of wild boar meat and stone weights from the accused.
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