Police have arrested two persons for allegedly poaching a spotted deer in the Sunderbans and selling its meat.

Sundar Naskar and Kanai Das were picked up from Kaikhali by Kultali police on Thursday morning on the basis of a complaint lodged by the forest department.

The police said the duo had killed the deer on Tuesday. The investigators seized a portion of the meat and the skin of the prey.

Naskar and Das were produced in the additional chief judicial magistrate’s court in Baruipur and remanded in police custody for five days.

A source in the forest department said: “We had received information that two men had been selling deer meat at Kaikhali. We checked with local sources and learnt they sneaked inside the Sunderbans and killed the animal. Later, they sold the major part of the meat and used the remaining portion for themselves. We sought the help of police who arrested the duo.”

Killing deer is a crime under Wildlife Protection Act. The foresters said they would sensitise villagers to the law. “We are checking if any other person or racket has a connection with the arrested duo,” a senior police officer said.

In March last year, a similar incident had been reported from Malbazar in the Dooars. Officers of the Gorumara North range of the forest department conducted a raid on a house in Malbazar after getting a tip-off that deer meat was being cooked there. Two persons were arrested in connection with the incident.

Murder arrests

Two men were arrested on Wednesday for allegedly murdering their friend while drinking in an under-construction building at Sulanguri in Rajarhat.