Telangana: 3 deer poachers held

Warangal: The forest department has sent three persons involved in poaching deer in the Mahadevpur forest to remand at the Karimnagar central prison on Saturday.  The arrested men are Naluvala Satyanarayana alias Sattanna of Centenary Colony of Peddapali district, Md. Ashraf and Md. Khaleem of Mahadevpur. On March 19, forest department officials chased a suspect car and after the occupants in the car abandoned it and fled, they found the carcasses of two spotted deer and professional poaching weapons.

Mahadevepur FRO Ramesh said the men were booked under the Wildlife Protection Act. “The case is being investigated. We have identified five persons. We are looking for the other accused,” he said. However, several questions have been raised regarding the authenticity of the story given by the police.

It is said that many big names are behind the poaching of animals in the Mahadevpur forest and that forest officials are hand in glove with them. Sources said several people from Hyderabad are coming to Mahadevpur for hunting and are involved in the smuggling of stag meat to other countries. Many varieties of meat are being served in underground parties held in Hyderabad. This meat is suspected to be coming from here. Some locals are also helping these people as they get good money from them.Locals said they have found several vehicles convenient for hunting with men in them roaming in nearby areas on several occasions.