Poaching: 6 arrested for killing two deer in Kamareddy's Polkampally forest

Kamareddy: The Kamareddy police on Saturday arrested six persons from Hyderabad­ for killing two deer in the Polkampally forest. The gang tried to flee in a car but the police nabbed them after a dramatic chase. Two dead deer, two cars, an air rifle, and six mobile phones were seized from them.

The arrested have been identified as Mohammed Hameed Usman and his associates Obaid Khan, Mir Mustafa Ali, Farzan Ghulam Hussain, Syed Rashid, and Mir Tayyab Ali. All are from Hyderabad.

Mohammed Hameed Uzzaman, 48, of Malakpet, is reportedly a competitive rifle shooter. Five of his associates, all from different parts of the city, and two villagers of Polkampally who informed the group about the deer were handed over to the forest department

"We believe that the two locals informed the group that deer roam in the open in the early hours because of the prevailing weather. Hameed came here along with his group," Kamareddy SP B. Srinivas Reddy said. They saw some deer and shot them down in the wee hours of Saturday. They cut the deer and loaded them into their vehicle.

Two constables and two residence guards had been deployed at Iyalapur village near a tank where three individuals had drowned earlier in the evening. At around 4 a.m., the police were patrolling the area when they saw two vehicles and got suspicious. The group saw the police team and left the area leaving behind the dead deer and the air rifle.

Meanwhile, the police started combing the area looking for the poachers. They found Hameed hiding in a pit and dragged him out. Hameed admitted to poaching deer.

The police control room was alerted and patrolling vehicles were directed to bar all entry and exit points to catch the other accused. On receiving a tip-off that the fleeing car was seen near Fareedpet village, the police groups rushed there, cordoned off the area, and caught the gang.