Bhanjanagar/Berhampur: Three deer died within 12 hours Saturday under the Ghumusar North forest division, forest officials said Sunday.
While two deaths were reported from a forest under the Mujagad range, another deer was chased and killed by some miscreants in the Central forest range.
Forest officials Sunday arrested three persons for allegedly killing a spotted deer in Ganjam district.
Ghumusar North Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Himansu Sekhar Mohanty said the accused have been identified as Udaya Naik (51), Ramesh Swain (60) and Rajesh Nayak (26), all residents of Khapraganda.
Preliminary investigation found that the accused killed the spotted deer near a rice mill at Khaparaganda village to sell its meat, he said. “The deer, an adult, had strayed into the village from the nearby forest area Saturday.
The accused allegedly chased and beat it to death,” Mohanty said. He said the accused were trying to carry the carcass for processing when forest staff reached the spot.
“The accused managed to flee after seeing the forest officials’ vehicle, leaving the carcass behind,” he said.
Later, three of them were arrested when forest officials conducted a search operation and traced the suspects after examining CCTV footage in the nearby area, said Bibek Das, Assistant Conservator of Forests (ACF), Ghumusar North.
In another incident, a deer injured after being hit by a vehicle near the Soradevi temple on the Bhanjanagar-Mujagad main road died during treatment Saturday morning.
Later in the evening, another deer reportedly strayed out of the forest and was seen roaming near the Daha area.
While being chased by dogs, the animal ran into a canal and died on the spot after hitting its embankment.
Following instructions from DFO Mohanty, post-mortems were conducted on all three carcasses.
Mujagad Ranger Bimbadhar Sahu and Central Forest Range Officer Prithviraj Pradhan are investigating the cases.
Forest officials said the deer and wild boar populations have increased significantly in the division, forcing the animals to frequently venture into nearby villages from the forests.