Three alleged poachers have been arrested and two country-made guns, deer meat and hide seized from them in a forest area in Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve here.
On a tip-off, a team of forest officials conducted a raid in Vilamundi forest and found five persons moving around in the area with guns yesterday, police said today.
When the forest personnel surrounded them, two of them managed to escape and the other three were arrested along with deer hide, meat and two country-made guns, police said.
The three allegedly admitted that they were habitual poachers and used to sell deer meat at Rs 300 per kg.
They were today produced before the Judicial Magistrate court in Sathyamangalam which remanded them to judicial custody for 15 days.
A search was on for the two persons who escaped, police added.
