Coimbatore: A poacher gunned down two spotted deer in the Mettupalayam forest range on Saturday.
Private security guards, who heard gunshots near the Kurundamalai temple around 4.30am, had informed Nellithurai beat forest guard Viji Kumar. A team of frontline staff of the forest department rushed to the temple, located 2.5km from the Nellimalai reserve forest.
Forest guards, who were on duty near Samayapuram, also rushed to the Kurundamalai temple – Thekkampatti road and started checking vehicles.
Around 5am, they tried to stop a man on a motorcycle, who was heading towards Thekkampatti. As the man sped away, forest guards Viji Kumar and Praveen Kumar started to chase him on a two-wheeler. While they could not catch the man, the guards found an abandoned gunny bag on the road, which had two deer carcasses.
A veterinary doctor, who carried out postmortem, recovered two bullets from the carcasses. “We have formed two teams to nab the poacher,” Mettupalayam forest range officer Palaniraja told TOI.