29 animals recovered from ex-min’s farm house in K’taka

Acting on the tip off, the CCB and Davanagere forest officials raided the farm house situated behind the rice mill

In a joint raid conducted by Bengaluru City Crime Branch (CCB) and forest officers on Wednesday, the officials rescued 29 wild animals from the farm house of former minister SS Mallikarjun in Davanagere city in Karnataka.

The officials rescued two foxes, 10 spotted deer, 7 black bucks, 7 wild boars, 3 mongooses from the farm house. (HT)

According to police officials, a man named Senthil was arrested on December 18 from Hebbala in Bengaluru while allegedly trying to sell a deer horn and pelt. Upon interrogation, he confessed that he is an employee in the farm house owned by former minister Mallikarjun, and he got the items from there.

Acting on the tip off, the CCB and Davanagere forest officials raided the farm house situated behind the rice mill. The officials rescued two foxes, 10 spotted deer, 7 black bucks, 7 wild boars, 3 mongooses from the farm house.

“We have rescued all the 29 wild lives rearing in the farm house. We have registered a case under Karnataka Wild Life Protection Act,” deputy conservator of forests NH Jagannath said. “We will appoint an investigation officer soon and conduct a thorough probe,” he added. When asked about the department issuing permission for rearing wild animals, he said no records were found in the department’s office.

Few people close to the former minister told forest officers that Mallikarjun is an animal lover and was thus rearing wild animals at his farm. They said Mallikarjun was rearing horses of various varieties and got permission from the forest department to rear wild animals in 2000. The number of deer increased after reproduction, they said.

However, during the raid, no one produced any kind of permission letter from the forest department, the officials said. The police have handed over the case to forest officers for further action.