Three poachers arrested in Siddapura reserve forest

MADIKERI: Three men, who had gone for poaching in Siddapura reserve forest area Virajpet taluk, have been arrested. While two of them are from outside the state, one is from Kodagu district.

A suspicious car found by Forest department staff who were on patrol in the Doddahadlu forest near Maldare under Kushalnagar range forest limits. They also found marks of footwear on the footpath leading to the forest.

The Forest staff, who followed the trail found some people running with a gun. Forest department staff chased and took three accused into custody. The arrested have been identified as Thomas (55) and Suresh (55) of Thrissur district in Keralam, and Mohammed Hanif (47), a resident of Kondangeri in Kodagu district.

Clothes used for stay in forest, cooking materials and a bag were found with the accused. Forest officials said that materials used for wildlife hunting, knife, metal detector and ganja leaves have also been found with them.