Bengaluru police arrested deer antler selling racket, 1 arrested

Bengaluru south sub-division police arrested a person for illegally selling 24 sets of deer antlers. The arrested is identified as M. T. Rajshekhar Naik aka Shekhar (28), hailing from Chittoor district in Andhra Pradesh. “He was carrying 24 set of deer antlers in a bag and was trying to strike a deal with passersby on a footpath in front of City Institute, Bengaluru. He had come with his wife to meet his in-laws, who reside nearby H.S.R. Layout,” .

The police added that the accused had been hunting as he lives near forest areas adjoining Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. “He is from a tribal area and he hunts deer in this forest range for the last couple of years due to unemployment. He had been illegally hunting these endangered animals, therefore he has been booked under 1972 Wildlife Protection Act,” the police said in its statement.

A police officer observed that the major difference between horns and antlers is that horns don’t shed and are almost always a permanent part of the animal.

A case has been filed against him under the Wildlife (Conservation) Act of 1972 and the investigation is in progress.