Hyderabad: Cops rescue blackbuck; 3 poachers in custody

Bahadurpura: Acting on tip-off, the sleuths of South Zone Commissioner's Task Force on Tuesday apprehended three persons for hunting wild animals and selling meat. Police personnel also recovered parts of butchered deer and also rescued a deer (blackbuck) from their possession. The arrested persons were identified as Chavan Shanker Baba (36), a resident of Nirmal district, Zubiar (26) hailing from Nizamabad district and Salmanuddin (27), a resident of Asif Nagar in Hyderabad and native of Nizamabad. One more accused Imran of Bodhan is absconding.

According to Hyderabad Police Commissioner Anjani Kumar, Salman wanted to arrange deer meat for his friends, so he contacted Zubair and Baba. After fixing a deal, Baba arranged two live deer for Salman. Zubair and Salman slaughtered one deer and sold the meat to one Imran of Bodhan after which Salman returned to the city. Salman tried spread word about having deer meat and was looking forward to selling it. Based on a tip-off, the police caught him. On questioning, he revealed the roles of Zubair and Baba who admitted they had one more deer with them.

"The police then called in forest officials, and with their help, the deer was rescued and shifted to the Nehru Zoological Park," the Commissioner said, adding that Baba and Zubair were previously involved in 10 similar offences that went unreported. The three along with the seized material were handed over to the Forest Department for further action. Efforts are on to nab Imran, added the cops.