The Tamil Nadu Forest Department arrested a couple in Coimbatore district on Wednesday, December 21, for killing a spotted deer. The couple allegedly tried to sell the deer meat after capturing it using barbed wire, forest officials said. 

The Karamadai Forest Department received information that barbed wires were placed to hunt spotted deer in Kandiyur near Mettupalayam. When the officers visited the spot, they saw a couple at the location. Subramani (62) and Ammasai  (54) — who reside in Sanathanapuram village were questioned by the officials, following which they launched an investigation. They found the deer meat in a nearby ditch, and arrested the couple. They were also ordered to pay a fine, and the Forest Department took custody of the meat. 

The spotted deer or chital is an endangered species and protected under Section 3 of the Wildlife Protection Act. This is not the first time that the hunting of spotted deer was reported in Mettupalayam. In 2021, a group of four men were arrested by the Mettupalayam Forest Range Officer, Palaniraja. The four were accused of setting up a trap in Nellimalai Reserve Forest to capture the deer, which they later cooked and ate. A raid was conducted in the houses of the accused and the cooked meat was seized. In a similar incident in 2019, two men were arrested in the Sirumugai Forest Range for poaching a spotted deer using a country gun. When the Forest Department received information about deer being hunted around Bhavani Reservoir, they patrolled the area and found seven men hurrying on their motorbikes. Two of them were arrested while the other five escaped.