Three held with suspected Chital meat in MP

Indore: Three persons were arrested in Indore district on Tuesday when they were allegedly transporting chital (spotted deer) meat in a car to Maharashtra, a forest official said.

The car was intercepted and searched near Pithampur on the Agra-Mumbai national highway on a tip-off, leading to the recovery of around 65 kg meat of a wild animal, suspected to be chital, he said.

Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Indore, M S Solanki said three occupants of the car, identified as Johar Hussain (69), Imtiyaz Khan (39) and Salman Haroon (42), have been arrested under the Wildlife Protection Act.

They claimed to be residents of Mumbai who were returning home after attending Ijtema (Muslim religious gathering) in Bhopal, he said.

"Around 65 kg of meat was recovered from the car. The meat was kept in separate packets in thermocol ice boxes. The names of different people were also written on these packets," said Deputy Ranger Pawan Joshi.

The accused claimed they received the meat consignment in Bhopal from one Bilal who is from Vidisha district.

"The accused couldn't give proper information about Bilal's address and appearance which raises doubt about their claims," he said.

The seized meat is being sent to a forensic science laboratory in Jabalpur. Further investigation is underway, Joshi added.