Six individuals, including a professional shooter, have been arrested in Telangana for illegally hunting wild animals, highlighting the ongoing challenges in wildlife protection and forest crime.
Key Points
- Six individuals arrested in Telangana for illegal hunting of wild animals.
- The accused used airguns to hunt deer, peacock, rabbits, quail, and doves.
- A professional shooter associated with the Telangana Rifle Association was among those arrested.
- Authorities recovered airguns, a licensed rifle, ammunition, and mobile phones from the accused.
- The accused face charges under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
Six people, including a professional shooter associated with the Telangana Rifle Association, were apprehended for alleged illegal hunting of wild animals using airguns in Shadnagar and Makthal forest areas of the state, police said on Tuesday.
Details of the Arrest and Seized Items
The police, along with the Forest department officials, conducted a joint operation and nabbed the six accused on Monday while they were hunting deer, peacock, rabbits, quail and doves using airguns and filmed their hunts, Additional DCP (Commissioner's Task Force) A Srinivasa Rao said in a release.
Four airguns, one licensed rifle with 20 live rounds, a car and eight mobile phones and airgun pellets were recovered from the possession of the accused.
Investigation and Charges
The prime accused (42), who is a bird trader, went hunting between January last year and February this year, along with his friends and consumed meat together, the release said.
The accused also clicked pictures of the killed wild animals on their mobile phone, police said.
Later, they disposed of the body parts of the wild animals into nearby canal.
The accused were handed over to the Forest Range officer, Hyderabad East Range, for further action.
A case was registered under relevant sections of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 against the accused, the release added.
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