3 poachers held; rifle,cartridges,flying fox carcass recovered

Three poachers were arrested at nearby Poluvampatti forest range Thursday on the charge of killing a flying fox and a rifle and cartridges recovered from them, forest officials said.

Officials patrolling the range saw the three moving around in a suspicious manner and questioned them.

A search revealed that the trio were carrying a rifle, seven live cartridges, a knife, cooked meat and the carcass of the flying fox in their bag, the officials said.

Two of those arrested were from the suburbs of Coimbatore and the other was from Erode district, police said.