Overview

• On June 29 a team acting on a tip-off stopped a car near the Bannerghatta-NICE Road junction and arrested 31-year-old Prathap transporting carcasses of four deer and a wild boar.
• A subsequent raid on a CK Palya shed uncovered 74 kg of meat from nine spotted deer and one wild boar along with two rifles, ten cartridges, two cars and two motorcycles.
• Three accused—Bheemappa, Balaraju and Ramesh—fled the scene and remain at large as forest authorities intensify the manhunt.
• Officials have registered a case under the Wildlife Protection Act to pursue poachers responsible for killings in the Bannerghatta and Kolar forest areas.
• Investigators are examining seized phone records and collaborating with cyber police to identify buyers and middlemen in the illegal wild-meat trade selling meat at up to Rs 4,000 per kilogram.