Bengaluru: As Chamarajanagar’s Hanur in the extreme south of Karnataka grapples with the fallout of a deadly forest encounter involving suspected poachers, villagers in Bidar in the extreme north of the state have emerged as unlikely allies of the forest department, helping catch three blackbuck poaching suspects.Assisted by villagers, forest officials have arrested six persons in connection with the alleged poaching of a blackbuck within the Bidar forest division on Aug 17. While villagers apprehended three of the suspects after chasing them, forest personnel tracked down the remaining three.The blackbuck is a protected wild animal under Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, and hunting or poaching it attracts stringent legal action.Sources told TOI the six persons had allegedly entered the forest to poach a blackbuck. Three of the accused were caught by villagers from Chondi Tanda and Mammadapur Tanda in Bidar taluk after they heard gunshots. The villagers handed them over to the police, who subsequently transferred them to the forest department for registration of a case and further investigation.The other three suspects fled the spot, prompting forest officials to launch a special search operation. On Aug 18, a team led by assistant conservator of forests (ACF), Basavakalyan, Muneer Ahmed, traced and arrested all three absconding accused.Officials have seized two four-wheelers and a rifle allegedly used in the offence. The accused were produced before a local court.Forest officials hailed the residents of Chondi and Mammadapur tandas for their courage and restraint in intercepting the suspects and handing them over to law enforcement rather than taking matters into their own hands. Three of the accused are reportedly from Chincholi taluk of Kalaburagi district, while the other three are from Hyderabad in neighbouring Telangana.
Villagers in Bidar who helped forest officials nab three suspected poachers after hearing gunshots inside the forest on August 17.
