CHIKKODI: Eight peacocks were poisoned to death, suspectedly for their meat, by some unidentified miscreants at Manjari village in the taluk on Friday. The peacocks were said to have been fed poison-laced seeds.
The villagers said some men had come on a motorcycle, which they parked on the banks of the Krishna river, to kill peacocks. When the villagers chased them, the unidentified men jumped into the river and escaped.
The villagers then informed the Forest Department, who arrived at the scene and sent the viscera samples for forensic tests. The villagers also vented their anger at Range Forest Officer Prashanth Gourani, who, they said, had failed to take any steps to stop the killing of peacocks though several complaints were made earlier.
The Forest Department officials have now arrested a brick kiln worker, identified as Manjunath, and are on the lookout for another accused.