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Deer horns and heads recovered from Kaimur wildlife sanctuary, one held
A poacher was arrested in Kaimur district after a forest team seized deer heads, horns, and Nilgai meat during a raid on wildlife smugglers.
A forest department team seized a large number of deer heads, horns and animal flesh, and arrested a poacher in Kaimur district on Tuesday, officials said.
Officials further said that the wildlife items were seized during a raid in the Kaimur wildlife sanctuary, which falls under the jurisdiction of Adhaura police station of the district.
Acting on information that smugglers were hunting wild animals in remote areas of the sanctuary and selling their meat, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Sanjiv Ranjan formed a team that posed as customers for two days to trap the suspects.
Following a specific input about the hunting of a Nilgai (blue bull) and sale of its meat at Dumuruka village near the Uttar Pradesh border, a forest team led by Adhaura Western Range Officer TN Singh reached the spot. One member of the team, posing as a buyer, approached a man selling the freshly cut head and meat of a Nilgai.
The seller, identified as Shiv Ram of Dumuruka village, was arrested on the spot, and the Nilgai head and meat were seized. On his identification, the team raided his house and recovered three heads of chital and sambar deer, their horns, and several other deer horns.
The arrested poacher also revealed the names of five of their accomplices involved in poaching and smuggling wildlife from the sanctuary, the DFO said.
A case under Sections 33, 52 and 64 of the Indian Forest Act and Sections 9, 26A, 27, 29, 30, 31, 32, 50 and 51 of the Wildlife Protection Act has been registered against the six named poachers. The accused have fled to forests in Uttar Pradesh, but will be arrested soon, the DFO added.
