KARIMNAGAR: Forest officials apprehended two persons in the Durshed of Karimnagar rural mandal for capturing a Bengal monitor on Saturday. The villagers recorded the men carrying the reptile on their mobile phones and alerted the officials.
Upon receiving the information, DFO Ch Balamani instructed FRO G Srinivas Reddy and his team to locate the two youths based on their two-wheeler registration number. After a five-hour search, the forest officials arrested the duo. The officials took the help of the Regional Transport Authority (RTA) to trace the vehicle registration address.
Balamani said that the duo were booked under the Wild Life Protection Act of 1972 and the Telangana Forest Act of 1967. A case was registered based on photos showing the two carrying the lizard. The arrested men have been identified as Sirichala Harikrishna and Pastham Edukondalu from Kudakuda village of Suryapet district. The duo were temporarily residing in Kothapalli village and worked as daily wage workers.
During an inquiry, the accused admitted their involvement in the capture, although the lizard managed to escape from their grasp and disappeared into the nearby bushes. The duo were produced before the court, and the magistrate ordered them into judicial custody for 14 days.