Five persons were arrested by the Forest Department in the Kattabettu forest range in the Nilgiris forest division trying to poach wild animals on Sunday. They were fined ₹10 lakh by the department for the offence.
The five accused were identified as K. Suryakumar, 27, K. Rohan Akshaya, 28, K. Akshay, 28, M. Vignesh Nair, 29 and D. Anushka, 29. All five persons, hailing from Karnataka, were noticed in the area acting suspiciously when they were apprehended by the staff.
The personnel seized sambar deer and black buck antlers, unlicensed rifles, bullets, air guns and a luxury vehicle.
