India:  Personnel of the local forest division have taken into custody the kingpins of an organised wildlife poaching racket while making a seizure of raw spotted wild boar meat and hides from the protected areas.

The racketeers, Mangal Munda and Matu Munda, used to trap and kill the wild boar and deer species at regular intervals, said forest officials.

The duo, arrested from Thakurani protected forest in Barbil range, confessed to have committed about seven wildlife offences for the past three months. "They were adept in the poaching of wild boar and deer species. They use to ensnare the species in nylon nets and later kill them," said Barbil forest range officer Padmanabh Behera.

The arrested were being assisted by a dozen of their accomplices, who evaded arrest.

The accused persons booked under sections 9, 27, 29 and 35 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. As a string of populous human settlements dot the borders of the Barbil forest range, animals straying into the nearby crop fields easily fall prey to the poachers, the forest official said.

(Source: The Telegraph)