20 arrested for poaching

Virudhunagar: The forest protection squad arrested 20 people who were involved in poaching activities to give offerings to their ancestral deity. Officials from the squad in Virudhunagar received a tip off on Tuesday night that several people were involved in poaching activities near Poosaripatti village and R R Nagar areas. A team headed by Virudhunagar forest range officer C Karventhan were involved in a vehicle check near the collectorate campus. An official said that they stopped four cars on suspicion. They found out that the occupants were involved in poaching activities. So, the officials detained them.During inquiry, the officials found that all the 20 were residents of Karuthalackampatti village near Natham in Dindigul district. Every year during Shivaratri, the villagers used to go on ‘Paari Vettai’ (poaching) in order to give offerings to their ancestral deity. This year they had come for Paari Vettai to Virudhunagar. They had poached 29 black-naped hares, three mongoose and a grey francolin. They were in possession of wooden sticks and head torches for the poaching activity. The officials seized the carcasses of the animals and equipment used for poaching.Subsequently, the 20 people were handed over to the Srivilliputhur range office. tnn