Four tourists held for killing Malabar squirrel, barking deer

Udhagamandalam: Forest department officials on Tuesday arrested five people, including four tourists, under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, for allegedly hunting a

barking deer

and a Malabar squirrel.

Officials said the four tourists N Sulaiman, 31 from Madurai, C John Armstrong Babu, 41, D Jabakumar, 44 and D Ramaiah, 39, all three from Thoothukudi, had come to Ooty on Sunday.

The four friends had obtained e-passes to enter the district for business purposes and were staying in a cottage owned by V Manikandan, 43, at Santhur near Ketti, 8km away from Ooty.

According to Saravanakumar, assistant conservator of forests, Manikandan used an air-gun to hunt a Malabar squirrel near Mayinalai village on Monday morning. Its meat was cooked for lunch and served to the four guests at his cottage. Later in the day, Manikandan killed a barking deer using the same air-gun near Muttinadu village. Its meat was also served as dinner to the guests.

A tip-off from local residents alerted forest officials.

“We nabbed all the five accused for illegally hunting animals early on Tuesday. Some leftover meat was found in their cottage. There was blood stains on their car,” said Saravanakumar.

All five accused were remanded in judicial custody.