Two held for poaching Storks in Nagapattinam district

Two persons have been arrested and remanded, for allegedly hunting Asian Open Billed Storks in Sirkazhi forest area in the district, forest department officials said today.
A flying squad of the district forest department found a car parked in Annanperumalkoil near Sirkazhi on Tuesday and recovered three dead Asian Open Billed Storks from the vehicle, Forest Ranger Officer, V Gopinath told PTI.
Upon enquiry, it was found that the two occupants of the car, Mahalingam (60) and Ramachandran (29) from Sirkazhi, had been engaged in poaching of birds in the forest area.
The officials also seized the car and a gun used for poaching the birds, from the duo, who were later produced before a court in Sirkazhi, which remanded them to judicial custody.

Three special squads have been formed to check poaching in these areas, Gopinath said.