Wayanad: The Forest Department on Thursday arrested six persons for illegally hunting a sambar deer under the Irulam Forest Station limits of the South Wayanad Forest Division. Irulam Deputy Range Forest Officer K P Abdul Gafoor led the operation.

The accused have been identified as Irulam natives Saneesh (23), Appu (60), Bineesh Kumar (29), and Rajan (55), along with M Prajith (26) and Ajeesh (27) from Mananthavady.

Forest officials recovered the meat of the hunted animal, a country-made trap, and knives used to cut the carcass. All six were produced before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court-II, which remanded them in judicial custody for 14 days.

The operation team included Irulam Forest Section Officer P V Sundaresan and Beat Forest Officers Ajeesh P S, Sathyan M S, and Jibith Chandran. Chethalath Range Forest Officer M K Rajeevkumar later interrogated the accused and collected supporting evidence.