Four persons have been arrested on charges of poaching, official said (Representational)
Two sloth bears got electrocuted after they came in contact with an iron wire, in which electricity was flowing, laid by poachers on the outskirts of a village in Chhattisgarh's Mahasamund district, a forest official said on Wednesday.
Four persons have been arrested on Tuesday on charges of poaching, they said.
Carcasses of the two bears, including a female, were found in Chhindauli village under Pithora forest range on Monday, Mahasamund Divisional Forest Officer Mayank Pandey told PTI.
After being alerted, forest officials rushed to the spot and found that an iron wire was laid there which was connected to an electric wire through a transformer for the purpose of poaching wild animals, he said.
Later, with the help of sniffer dogs from Achanakmar Tiger Reserve, forest personnel raided some houses in Chhindauli and nearby Beldih village and arrested four persons on charges of poaching, he said.
The accused were identified as Ramji Nishad (65), Nainsingh (38), both from Chhindauli, Devlal Chakradhari (30) and Jaiprakash, natives of Beldih, he said.
A bundle of iron wire and other items allegedly used by them in poaching were recovered from their possession, he said, adding that further investigation was underway.
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