Mysuru: The Mysuru Forest Mobile Squad personnel have arrested three poachers from Andhra Pradesh while they were trying to sell a deer pelt near Kukkarahalli Lake in city yesterday and have seized the deer pelt from them.

Those arrested are Kuttiyappa, Vijaykanth and Kamal Hassan, all residents of Shikari Colony in Palamaner taluk of Chittoor district in Andhra Pradesh and belong to Hakki Pikki community.

The Forest Mobile Squad personnel, acting on a tip off, raided the spot on the road leading from Crawford Hall to Kukkarahalli Lake, arrested the three accused and recovered the deer pelt.

During interrogation, the accused are said to have revealed that they had hunted the deer in the forest area, near Shikari Colony in Andhra and the Forest officials is yet to know how the three accused managed to smuggle the deer pelt from Andhra Pradesh to Mysuru and a team has been formed to conduct investigation. The accused have been remanded to judicial custody.

Mysuru Forest Mobile Squad’s Deputy Conservation of Forests (DCF) Ramakrishnappa and Assistant Conservator of Forests (ACF) Manohar Suvarna supervised Range Forest Officer (RFO) Vivek, Deputy Range Forest Officers (DRFOs) Pramod, D.M. Vinod Kumar, Nagaraju, Anil Kumar, T.C. Sneha and K.J. Meghana, Forest Guards Mahantesh, Kotresh Poojar, Chennabasavaiah, Virupaksha, Udaykumar, Kumar, Prakash and Diwakar, drivers Madhu and Puttaswamy, took part in the raid, nabbing and seizing operation.