8 held for hunting in Valasaivettikadu

Sunil Karunakaran, Babu, Ramesh, Arulkumar, Silambarasan, Boopalan, Gnanmoorthi and Thangaraj were secured by a special team led by sub-inspector Surendrakumar when they were cooking meat of an animal which was reportedly hunted down on Saturday night. The meat has been sent to the laboratory to ascertain the type of animal they have killed.

A rifle, three shotguns, pellets, torches and several knives were seized from them. The Manavala Nagar police booked them under various sections and have decided to produce them before the magistrate.

The police said that the four guns are licensed weapons and three of the accused — Sunil Karunakaran, Babu and Ramesh — were members of a rifle club in the city. The gang reached the village in two cars and hired villagers to enter the forest, the police said.

Even as the accused allegedly told the police that they only hunted rabbits, the police suspect that they might have killed peacocks as Valasaivettikadu is known for its peacock’s presence. Since hunting of peacocks is an offence, the forest department has also been intimated of the arrest for further investigation, an official said.