Six persons, suspected to be poachers, were today nabbed by a forest department team from Wadgaon, about 20 kilometres from Digras tehsil in the district here, officials said.
Officials said that a self-loading rifle, two live cartridges, three used cartridges, knives, six mobile phones, a car and three motorcycles were confiscated from them.
"We had received a tip-off about the presence of poachers in the forests in Wadgaon. We reached the area around midnight. In the early hours today, we heard a gunshot. Moving in the direction from where the sound came, we managed to spot the six," said an official.
A team led by Range Officer Anant Dhotre gave chase and managed to overpower the six persons, officials said, adding that two forest officials were injured in the effort.
"Forest officials Gulshan Khan Pathan and Aswin Mulmule were injured and have been admitted to a local hospital and they are now out of danger," the official said.
Forest officials identified the six persons as Azhar Ali Tanwar, Hussain Shaikh Mehboob and Mohammad Salim Haji Ayub, all residents of Wadgaon, and Farooque Parekh, Mohammad Hanis Razzak and Wajeed Gulam Sheikh, all three residents of Sadoba Savli.
They are currently being interrogated to check if they had killed any wildlife, based on which further action would be taken, officials said.
"Due to the intense heat wave, animals come out of the forest areas in search of water. Chances of the animals getting killed by poaching teams are very high during this time. We are fully alert to thwart any such incident," the forest official said.
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