Five alleged poachers, including four Nepalis, with body parts of musk deer and mountain goat were arrested from Uttarakhand’s Nanda Devi National Park and sent to 14 days of judicial custody on Monday, said officials.
NB Sharma, divisional forest officer of Nanda Devi National Park, said that during patrolling, forest staff found unusual footsteps of humans and traces of fire.
“On Sunday morning, while patrolling forest staff found the footsteps of humans and saw a local walking around in the forest area. The staff stopped the man, who must have been a porter and was coming down to stock up groceries, and interrogated him. Through that man, the forest staff found the other four poachers,” said Sharma.
Sharma said that four teeth of musk deer, one head, skin and two legs of a mountain goat were recovered from the poachers along with wires used for trapping the animals.
The five were arrested late on Sunday night and were presented in court on Monday. They were charged under relevant sections of the Wildlife Protection Act, he said.
