Two persons held for possession of country-made guns, explosives near Katpadi

Two persons were arrested for possession of two country made guns and 26 pellets, 10 crude bombs inside Pogalur reserve forest (RF) in Pernambut town near Katpadi in Vellore on Sunday.

The arrested persons were identified as V. Ajith Kumar (28) and R. Pugalenthi. Initial inquiry revealed that Pugalenthi has been cultivating paddy and groundnuts in his farmland for many years. Police said that based on a tip-off, along with forest officials, a special team conducted searches in the reserve forest when they found the duo, who were reportedly roaming with guns and explosives in the forests.

Police and forest officials rounded them up in the forests. They recovered country made guns, explosives, nets, torchlights and batteries. Arrested persons told police that they brought guns from known people in Keralam to hunt small wild animals and to prevent wild boars from destroying crops.

Police said that the duo used pellets to hunt wild animals like monkeys, rabbits and spotted deer in surrounding forests near Tamil Nadu - Andhra Pradesh border. A case was registered by Melpatti police. The duo was lodged at Central Prison in Vellore. A probe is underway.