KOCHI: The forest department on Wednesday recovered a deer antler from the excise office at Kacheripady here. The 36-cm-long antler was seized during a raid on an apartment in Kochi from where over 1kg of MDMA was seized on August 19.
Due to lapses from the part of the excise department, including the recovery of the antler in the seizure mahazar, the forest department will have to face legal hurdles to prove the case in the court. “It is an old antler. How the accused got it has to be confirmed after interrogation. We will register a case against five persons who were arrested by the excise in the MDMA seizure case. We will move the court to record the arrest of the accused on Thursday,” a forest officer said.
“One day after the seizure, they informed us about the antler. But we could not proceed further as there was no mention of such a seizure in the excise records. Now, we have prepared a joint mahazar signed by the excise officer testifying that such a seizure was made and a case registered,” a senior officer said.