Forest sleuths chase vehicle for 25 km; One arrested while another accused flees

Madikeri: In a shocking case of wildlife crime, an Indian Gaur was hunted from its habitat in Kodagu district. 570 kg of its meat was seized by Forest Department officials and sleuths have arrested 42-year-old Haris, a resident of Yemmemadu village near Napoklu while another accused, identified as Moosa, managed to escape.

The incident occurred late Sunday night and acting on a tip-off, the Forest Department officials from the Madikeri Range conducted a raid, leading to the arrest of Haris.

The Indian Gaur, estimated to be around 8 years old, was killed in Garvale village of Somwarpet taluk. Based on the tip-off, Forest Department personnel patrolled the road that led to Garvale, where they noticed a pickup vehicle. When they attempted to stop the vehicle, the driver made a desperate attempt to flee without stopping.

A tense chase ensued, spanning 25 kilometres, as the suspect behind the wheel tried to evade capture. In a reckless move, he even attempted to collide his vehicle with the patrol vehicle.

Eventually, the vehicle was intercepted on the Madikeri-Bhagamandala Road at Appangala. However, Moosa managed to escape by jumping out of the vehicle. The vehicle, authorities discovered 570 kg of Indian Gaur meat, along with two meat cleavers.

With the collaboration of the Police, efforts are on to identify bullet fragments embedded in the meat. Dr. K.A. Prasanna, Assistant Director of the Animal Husbandry Department, said that 8 to 10 bullet fragments were found during the examination using a metal detector. The fragments will be sent to a laboratory for detailed analysis.

Madikeri Range Deputy Forest Officer Bhaskar highlighted an alarming surge in incidents related to poaching and wildlife hunting. He said that a total of 7 suspects, including the arrested individual, were linked to the killing of the Indian Guar. Details regarding these suspects have been gathered, and concerted efforts are being made to nab them, he added.

ACF Mohisin Basha, RFO Poojashree and officials Mallaiah Hiremath, Santosh, Vasudeva, Jeevan, Yashwant, Kushan, Praveen, Mahesh, Sunil, Mohan, Yateesh, Darshini, Sharath, Venkatraman and Umesh participated in the seizure and arrest.