Two brothers arrested for hunting Sambar deer in Wayanad

Wayanad: Two brothers were arrested by the Forest Department for hunting a sambar deer in the Pathiri Reserve Forest near Perikkalloor. The arrested have been identified as Benny Thomas (54) and Reji Thomas (57) of Mavinchuvadu Thadathil.

According to forest officials, the accused had been regularly trapping deer using cable hooks set up in the forest and cooking the meat.

The duo was taken into custody late on Wednesday when a patrolling team from the Pulppalli Forest Station noticed suspicious movement in the area. During the arrest, officials seized around 10 kg of deer meat, along with hunting knives and headlights, from the accused.

The accused were produced before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court, Sulthan Bathery, and remanded to judicial custody for 14 days. During the evidence gathering at Pathiri Reserve Forest, officials also recovered the head, skin, and other remnants of the sambar deer carcass, along with the cable hook used in the hunting trap.

This marks the second arrest within a month related to a gang using cable hooks to trap deer in the region. Chethalath Forest Range Officer Rajeev Kumar said that patrolling in the jungle zones of the area would be intensified due to the increasing incidents of wildlife hunting.

The forest team included Pulppalli Forest Range Officer A Nijeesh, Beat Forest Officers Sreejith P S, Jojish K K, and Prabheesh  T R. The operation was supervised by Chethalath Forest Range Officer M K Rajeev Kumar.