A 70-year-old shepherd bravely confronted two hunters on Thursday evening and later helped the police crack down on a wildlife hunting racket in the Mannarapura forest area in Chickballapur.
Srinivasappa was returning home with the herd from the forest area when two of his goats ate explosives-laced eatables and died. Following this, goats and sheep ran helter-skelter. Soon, two of the hunters appeared from their hideouts and confronted a shocked Srinivasappa.
He raised an alarm and confronted them with his sickle, but they tried to attack him in a bid to escape. But, sensing trouble, the duo left the bike and fled from the scene with one of the dead goats.
Srinivasappa carried the other dead goat and informed the villagers, who reached the incident spot and took the bike left by the accused before alerting the police.
The forest officials reached the spot, and while examining the bike, a pack of explosives fell and exploded. Two of the forest staff sustained injuries in their hands and legs.
The Chickballapur rural police rushed to the spot and, based on the bike’s registration number, tracked down Nagesh, 56, a wildlife hunter from Chintamani and his associate Narayanaswamy, 35, who owns a chicken shop in Chickballapur. The duo used to source explosives from their contacts and place them in the forest area to hunt down wild boars and other animals, said the police.
The duo was booked under the Explosive Substances Act, section 283 (Danger or obstruction in public), 286 (Negligent conduct with respect to explosive substance),429 (Mischief by killing, poisoning, maiming or rendering useless any) and section 427 (mischief causing damage) under IPC for further investigation.
