The Neilgiris Forest Division arrested a gang of four members accused of entering Neilgiris in the Kunda Forest range near Nidalkad on Sunday (March 30, 2025).
The Forest Department said a team led by Forest Ranger B. Srinivasan conducted a routine patrol in the area when they followed a suspicious tourist to Kanneri Road in Edakkadu. During the encounter, four men tried to escape from the forest department.
Mr. Srinivasan told Hindu The main defendant, Abdul Ameen, 31, of Malapuram, Kerala, possessed a loaded rural weapon and tried to escape the area when facing the forest department. According to reports, Ameen accidentally pulled the trigger onto the weapon and released a round from the inside of the vehicle the gang entered, accidentally breaking one of the vehicle’s glass windows.
Forest workers chased the defendant and arrested Abdul Ameen, while others were identified as 36-year-old P. Basheer, 31-year-old Shafi and 39-year-old Suner, all Vazhikkadavu of Malappuram, fled the scene and had not been arrested. In addition to rural-made weapons, second-hand knives, hand phones, cell phones and unused bullet boxes were seized from Ameen and inside the car.
When contacting the Division Forest Officer (Nilgiris), S. Gowtham said Gudalur and Nilgiris Forest departments and Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) are planning with the interstate poaching gang (Mudumalai Tiger Reserve) (MTR) where Indian wild animals operate fully in the region, such as hunting in the region.
Mr Gowtham said: “It is a joint effort and over the past few months we have successfully arrested four such gangs. Ameen and his colleagues are part of another group of poachers arrested in the Gudaru subdivision on February 28.
Officials also added that the Forest Ministry is also working with its Kerala counterparts in an attempt to cut back on interstate poaching gangs.
publishing – March 30, 2025 at 4:04 pm IST
