Corporation workers by day, bush meat hunters by night

Bengaluru, 01 Apr 2021 [Fik/News Sources]: An organised gang of ‘bush meat hunters’ operating under the cover of municipal corporation workers, was arrested in Shivamogga city on Tuesday. The gang was involved in supplying live animals and meat to military hotels in the city. This is the first time such an operation has been busted where the offenders, who are daily wage workers in the corporation, had plotted to hunt wildlife under the garb of catching stray pigs. Forest officials say a detailed probe will be conducted with the help of police, to dig into the gang’s antecedents and links with hotels and other people in their network.

Activists say bush meat is available in military hotels, but this expensive meat is served only to trusted customers. These men have been operating for a long time and may have killed antelopes too, they added. Wildlife conservationist Akhilesh Kumar Chipli said, “The workers are habitual hunters and had, in fact, put up a ‘Mahanagara Palike Board’ sign on their private vehicle. Why would you hunt stray pigs in forests? They were hunting smaller mammals and antelopes in and around Shettihalli.

This gang definitely has links which need to be probed, and more people may be operating here and in Chikkamagaluru district too.” The offenders collected solid waste in the mornings, and used their vehicle to transport live animals or meat to military hotels. They were arrested in Shankara Range, just 2km from the forest. With stone crushing units shut after the quarry blast, forest staff say wildlife is back in the area. Responding to this, officials said, “Investigations are on to ascertain the gang’s links.

They are trained professionals and cannot claim that they intended to catch stray pigs. The seized vehicle did not even have a carriage to keep pigs. We are checking their antecedents, and will bring the matter before the corporation commissioner.” A Shivamogga court remanded them in judicial custody for 14 days. The offenders had professional tools and weapons like snares, clutch wire cables, nets, etc. to hunt animals, and for skinning and cleaving the meat.

4 HELD FOR KILLING TIGER, LEOPARD; HIDES RECOVERED

Mysuru: Officials of the forest mobile police squad recently arrested four people who had placed snares for a tiger and leopard, to kill only and sell their hides. The accused Aruna, Nanjunda and Ravi, are from Hunsur taluk and Ramesh, a tribal from Kunteri hamlet in the taluk. The squad, under the leadership of DCF Poovaiah, RFO Vivek and DRFOs conducted a successful operation and made the arrests. According to forest sleuths, the accused had snared a tiger to death in the Veeranahosahalli range of the Nagarahole Tiger Reserve. “Similarly, a leopard was caught using a jaw-trap and was later beaten to death by the accused in the buffer zone between Nagarahole and Hunsur. They later transported the animals to Ambedkar Nagar where they were de-skinned and ate meat of both the animals,” said a forest official. Forest sleuths recovered the hides along with jaw-traps that were used to trap the animals along with the snares.