Stung by the revelations made by the Varusanadu poachers who were nabbed by the Kerala Forest department officials near Meghamalai, the Forest Department in Western Tamil Nadu has arrested two tribal people from the Kurumba community on charges of having guided and assisted the Varusanadu poachers.
Officials in the team probing the revelations made by the poachers while in Kerala Forest Department custody have fanned out in directions in search of one more Kurumba tribal.
Meanwhile, sources in the core investigation group say that two people from Varusanadu and Meghamalai with a history of involvement in poaching were picked up on Tuesday evening.
Ever since the revelations emerged in the public domain, the department had been keeping tab on suspects. Unable to bear the heat, one of them surrendered.
Forest officials identified him as B. Rangan (40) near Coonoor. He had acted as a guide and assisted the Varusanadu poachers in gunning down a tusker five years ago. A country-made single barrel muzzle loader weapon was seized from him.
The accused was taken into the forest to show the place where the poaching reportedly took place but efforts to exhume the carcass went in vain, forest officials said. Based on his confessions, police arrested another tribal Rangan alias Chandran (40) of the same area.