7 arrested with 2 peacock carcass, 6 firearms: Officials

Seven men were apprehended after forest rangers allegedly apprehended them poaching peacocks in the Baggalumadu forest region close to Motanahalli in Yadgir taluk on Saturday night, officials disclosed on Sunday. Two peacock corpses and six locally made firearms were seized. The suspects, identified as Ningappa, Vasudeva, Kareppa, Kantappa, Yallalinga, Basavaraj, and Mallappa, range in age from 25 to 36 and are residents of various villages within Chittapur taluk in Kalaburagi district.

Yadgir range forest officer Burhan Uddin revealed the department's action was prompted by information regarding a group purportedly hunting within the forest. "We received intelligence that certain individuals were hunting peacocks in the Baggalumadu area of the Yadgir forest range. They were in possession of six firearms. We launched an investigation, apprehended them, and presented them before the court on Sunday, which remanded them to judicial custody for 14 days," he explained.

During the investigation, one suspect presented a firearm license. The remaining five weapons were identified as illegal homemade guns, according to Uddin. Forest personnel had maintained vigilance over the area following the receipt of the information before executing the raid. The two carcasses were recovered alongside the firearms, which authorities suspect were utilized for hunting.

The forest department has filed a case against the seven under applicable provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. Investigators are probing whether the men were implicated in prior hunting activities, tracing the origin and ownership of the firearms, and determining if others were involved in the alleged hunting operation.