Rourkela: Four persons, including two members of Wildlife Protection Squad of Satkosia Wildlife Division, were arrested on Saturday for allegedly poaching a spotted deer and consuming its meat in the forest under Tikarpada wildlife range. Forest officials seized around 2 kg of cooked venison and the severed head of the animal from the spot.Acting on a tip-off forest officials conducted a late-night raid on Friday and allegedly found the four accused consuming the cooked deer meat.During interrogation, the accused allegedly admitted to hunting the deer after it was chased and exhausted by village dogs. They reportedly stoned the animal to death, cooked its meat inside the forest and consumed it there. Officials said the animal was a male spotted deer.The arrested were identified as Kulamani Nayak (34) and Pratap Dehury (46), both members of the Wildlife Protection Squad, and Shiba Prasad Nayak (21) and Jogendra Paikara (65), residents of Ramimunda Boiapada village.“Two Wildlife Protection Squad members and two villagers have been arrested under the Wildlife Protection Act for poaching a spotted deer. Further investigation is underway,” said Gadadhar Patra, divisional forest officer, Satkosia Wildlife Division.
