(IN): Poachers fire at forest watcher in Krishnagiri

August 3, 2009

Poachers fire at forest watcher in Krishnagiri TNN

3 August 2009, 02:31am IST

KRISHNAGIRI: A forest watcher was fired at by a gang of suspected poachers

at Naralapally reserve forest in Krishagiri district in western Tamil Nadu

in the wee hours of Sunday.

The forest watcher, 54-year-old P Govindhan, however, had a lucky escape as

the alleged poachers sprayed only pellets on his chest with a country gun.

The watcher was rushed to the government general hospital at Salem for

treatment of the pellet injuries. Doctors at the hospital said the watcher

is out of danger.

Around 1.30 am on Sunday, the watcher, Govindhan, and forest guard P

Chandran noticed a group using flashlights near the central forest nursery

and the adjoining lake at Narnikuppam, within the 1500-hectare Naralapally

reserve forest bordering Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

Suspecting that the gang was attempting to walk away with sandalwood

saplings being grown in the central nursery, the watcher rushed towards the

intruders, caught hold of one of the gang members and hit him. Meanwhile,

another gang member fired at the watcher from his country gun and the trio

escaped into the dark, dry tracts of the forest.

Divisional forest officer V Ganesan said the gang might have intended to

hunt boars, Indian hare and deer. He ruled out any attempt to poach

elephants. " It is very dry forest land and does not support the presence of

elephants, " the official said.

It is the second poaching attempt in the Krishnagiri and neighbouring

Dharmapuri forests in the last two months.

A special task force team of the Tamil Nadu police, which is trained in

jungle operations, had chased away a poaching gang that sneaked into the

Dharmapuri forests last month, allegedly seeking to hunt down elephants for

their tusks.

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