Hyderabad: The Shamshabad special operation team (SOT) arrested three persons, including a hunter, for killing deer and selling venison for Rs 3,000-Rs 5,000 per kg in the city, in a raid at Gagan Pahad industrial area early Monday.
The main accused was identified as Busaramoni Venkatesh, 34, a native of Kandukur mandal in Ranga Reddy, who roped in Manupati Srinu, 37, a hunter from Nalgonda, and Puli Karunakar, 35, of Kandukur, the supplier, the police said.
The SOT seized what was claimed to be two kilograms of deer meat and 14 kgs of mouse deer meat, a scooter and a motorbike from the accused, and handed them over to the RGIA Shamshabad police for probe.
The recovered meat was sent to Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCM) for analysis, while the cost of the recovered possessions was pegged at Rs 2.5 lakh.
The police said that upon questioning the accused, they unearthed a larger conspiracy wherein they identified five hunters who were selling meat to suppliers. Twelve gangs were hunting deer in forests of Jedcherla, Sedam (Karnataka), Srisailam, Bhadrachalam and Khammam, among others, they said.
Based on the information, special teams were deployed to trace the gangs, the police said.
A senior police officer involved in the probe said: “The teams are making efforts to nab the hunters who are involved in killing deer and other animals and illegally selling to the customers in the city. We have already informed the forest officers. We will also be investigating the case and nab hunters, suppliers and also those selling dog meat.”
- High demand for deer meat, or venison, in city
- Rs 3,000-Rs 5,000 is the cost per kg
- Deer biryani, marag and haleem are popular dishes at private parties
- 12 gangs involved in hunting deer
- Deer hunted in forests of Khammam, Bhadrachalam, Srisailam, Jedcharla and Sedam of Karnataka
