AGARTALA: A Forest Department team arrested a man suspected of poaching and seized a huge quantity of venison (deer meat) in the Belonia Sub-division of South Tripura District.
Acting on a tipoff, a team of officials from the Bagafa, Kakulia, and Rajnagar Trishna Wildlife Ranges conducted a joint operation in the early hours of Friday.
According to a forest department official, the team arrested Sunil Das, an auto driver, for illegally transporting raw deer meat.
The official stated, "During the operation, seven kilograms of deer meat were found inside the auto, along with bloodstains inside the vehicle and on the driver's hands."
The officials suspect Sunil Das of being involved in poaching and are investigating the incident.
In a similar case, the Tripura Forest Department seized three country-made guns and suspected raw deer meat earlier in October, during a raid in the North Kasari area, near the Trishna Wildlife Sanctuary.
Bimal Das, the sanctuary's wildlife warden, stated, "We learned that someone had killed a deer for human consumption." Our team immediately rushed to the scene, but the owner of the house where the animal was suspected to have been butchered had already fled.
In the presence of village elders, we entered the house and launched a thorough search, which led to the recovery of three country-made guns. We have also seized samples of meat kept in a bowl inside a room."
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