Two poachers arrested in Baisipalli

Bhubaneswar: A forest department squad arrested two poachers in Baisipalli wildlife sanctuary under Mahanadi Wildlife Division on Sunday night. They killed a barking deer before being caught.
Official sources said a motorcycle was seized from them. The poachers said they threw a gun in the forest. Wildlife personnel are searching for the weapon using a metal detector.The poachers were identified as Mahendra Mallik and Ghadu Pradhan.
The duo were hired by local villagers for the poaching since the latter have no expertise in hunting. Those, who hired them, are yet to be arrested.
Divisional forest officer (Mahanadi division) Anshu Pragyan Das said the poachers were cornered from three directions after some villagers tipped off the forest staff. Walkie-talkies were used for coordination among the squad members, who negotiated a high-terrain forest to nab the poachers, she said.
Official sources said reward for villagers tipping off about poachers yielded results. Two weeks ago, the field staff arrested two persons of Baisipalli for causing forest fire in the foothills.