CHENNAI: A 13-year-old boy from Chengam village in Tiruvannamalai district was admitted to the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital here on Monday with a suspected bullet injury. Preliminary investigations have suggested that it was the result of an animal trap put up by poachers in the foothills of Javadhu hill range.
The teen, Sathyadasan, is a class VII student. “Around 6.30 pm on Sunday, I, along with my mother, went inside the forest to retrieve one of our cattle, which had gone astray while returning from our farmlands. Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain in both my legs and fell unconscious,” he told the doctors. According to hospital sources, the boy has muscle abrasions on both his thighs and a fracture in his right femur (thigh bone). “We have taken X-rays. They didn’t confirm if the injury was caused by a bullet. We would take a scan and a surgery would be performed if required,” a doctor said. On being alerted, police from Tiruvannamalai arrived at the hospital. Investigations suggested that the bullet was set off from a single shot country-made gun used by poachers. “The boy had tripped on the bait which was hooked and connected with a spring attached to the trigger of the country made gun,” police said.