TEAM HERALD
PERNEM: Pernem forest officials on Monday arrested three persons from Pernem and seized 36 kilos of deer (sambar) meat estimated at Rs 10,000 along the Chopdem-Siolim bridge.
According to Pernem Range Forest Officer Vilas Gawas, they received information from sources that a car was to transport the deer meat from Pernem to Mapusa.
“Based on information that some people would transport the meat, we laid a trap at the Chopdem bridge at about 10 am and after about an hour, we intercepted a Swift car (GA-03-H-9187). After a search, we found 36 kilos of deer meat in the car,” RFO Gawas told Herald.
The department later arrested three persons including Amol Naik, Shantaram Naik, both from Katowada-Tuem and Aashish Bandekar from Manaswada-Pernem. The officials also confiscated the car which was used to transport the meat.
Later, the forest department also recovered the deer’s head from the compound of one of the accused, Amol Naik.
According to sources, the deer meat was brought from Maharashtra for sale at Mapusa.
