Three held for poaching, killing 310 Munia birds

TRICHY: Forest department officials rescued 20 Munia birds and found carcasses of 310 dead ones at Pettaivaithalai in Trichy district on Sunday. Three people were arrested in this connection and further investigations are on.
Based on a tip, a team of seven officials from the forest department in Trichy headed by forest ranger M Balakrishnan went to Pettaivaithalai and arrested three people who were found selling bird meat as well as live birds.They unearthed the meat of 310 Munia birds and seized 20 live birds from them.
The accused were identified as M Shanmugam, 39 and R Silambarasan, 29 of Kulithalai in Karur district and M Sathishkumar, 27 of Manapparai in Trichy district. The trio had poached all the 330 birds using nets at a sugarcane field in Ariyalur district. They were trying to sell the meat claiming that it had medicinal properties. After their arrest, The trio was brought to the forest office in Trichy.
According to forest ranger M Balakrishnan, all the three were booked under Wilde Life Protection Act 1972 schedule 4. According to this schedule, all the accused could be released on bail if they were ready to pay the penalty. Otherwise, they would be remanded.
“As per the act, we can impose a fine between Rs 25,000 and Rs 1 lakh each for committing the offence. All the three are under our custody and would be released if they pay the penalty”, he said. He rejected claims that the bird’s meat had medicinal value.