Two poachers held with deer carcasses in Uttar Pradesh

LUCKNOW - Two poachers were Friday arrested with carcasses of spotted deer and barking deer in Uttar Pradesh’s Balrampur district, forest officials said.

The two men in their mid-30s were nabbed with carcasses of two spotted deer and two barking deer near a forest area of the Sohelwa Wildlife Sanctuary in Balrampur, about 300 km from Lucknow.

“We are yet to ascertain where they killed the animals as they gave contradictory statements,” Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) V.P. Singh told reporters in Balrampur.

According to another forest official, the two men have admitted they were engaged in selling the skins/hides and the meat of wild animals to their clients in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand and even Nepal.

While the forest officials assisted by a team of police managed to nab the two poachers during a joint operation, two of their aides managed to escape.

Under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, injuring or killing a spotted deer or a barking deer is a criminal offence.