Forest officials on Wednesday arrested two villagers and seized the flesh and skin of a nilgai (Indian antelope) and recovered two muzzle-loading guns and two axes from their possession in Jharkhand’s Betla Wildlife Sanctuary.

According to deputy director of the north division of Palamau Tiger Reserve, Kumar Ashish, they got a tip-off that a nilgai had meandered to a village under Chhipadohar forest range in the sanctuary from neighbouring Palamau district and had been hunted down by some villagers on Tuesday evening.

“There are no nilgais in the Betla sanctuary. We got information that one nilgai from the neighbouring district of Palamau had come to the sanctuary and had been hunted by a few villagers yesterday (Tuesday) evening. I directed the forest ranger Subhendra Kumar to conduct a raid and we succeeded in recovering the skin and the flesh of the nilgai. We also managed to nab the two villagers who had hunted the animal along with the weapon used in the killing. They have been sent to jail,” said Ashish.

The muzzle-loading guns and axes recovered from the arrested persons Bhola Prasad

Nilgai is a protected species under Schedule 3 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, and hunting it is prohibited.

The two accused villagers — Gudan Singh and Kari Lohra — have been booked under Section 429 of the IPC (mischief by killing cattle of any value or animal above the value of Rs 50) and under Section 11 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act and the Wildlife Protection Act. They have been sent to Latehar jail.

“We have in the last few years recovered more than 50 muzzle-loading guns from the villagers as they are available at cheap rates and are sold by poachers who come from other districts. We will be intensifying our raids to recover more such muzzle-loading guns which are used to hunt animals in forest areas,” said Ashish.