Shivamogga: The growing threat of poachers stealing surveillance equipment used for wildlife monitoring has come into sharp focus after a 58-year-old man was arrested in Kargal, a town in Shivamogga district.Police said Roichan of Banukuli village was caught after he allegedly stole a high-tech camera trap installed by the forest department for the National Tiger Census during an illegal hunting expedition. The device, set up in the Kallurashi area in the Biligaru section, reportedly went missing after its flash went off as the man passed by.Investigators said Roichan suspected the camera had captured his image while he was trespassing in the forest. In a bid to destroy evidence and avoid identification, he allegedly removed the device and attempted to burn it.The theft came to light after Naveen Kumar R, range forest officer of the Kargal Wildlife Range, filed a complaint on April 11. Kargal police launched an investigation and arrested the accused at his residence in Kalagadde.What the accused did not know, police said, was that a secondary camera concealed in nearby bushes continued to record the scene. That camera captured him carrying a country-made gun, providing crucial evidence of illegal hunting.Shivamogga superintendent of police B Nikhil told TOI the accused was produced before a local court and remanded in judicial custody.Forest officials said the incident reflects a worrying trend. At least five camera traps have gone missing in the Sharavathi Valley over the past six months. Experts said theft of tiger census cameras is on the rise across Karnataka, with poachers and encroachers systematically targeting surveillance equipment to evade forest authorities.
