Chikkamagaluru: The prime accused in the stag hunting case has landed in Dubai by giving a slip to police and forest officials.
According to reliable sources, the prime accused Rafeeq Ahmed managed to hoodwink authorities and managed to escape to Dubai enroute Sri Lanka.
The forest and police officials’ efforts went in vain to trace the accused who had made several attempts to obtain anticipatory bail in the case. When he did not succeed, he decided to flee, sources revealed.
Assistant conservator of Forests (ACF) of Bhadra Forest Reserve Sharanappa has almost completed his investigation into the incident. There are evidences of accused Rafeeq hiring sharp shooters from other states to execute his plans. The accused had managed to bring in lot of arms and ammunition for the purpose through his contacts, sources said.
Considering the involvement of arms the forest department has decided to hand over the case to the police.
During preliminary investigations accused Rafeeq’s high end connections with political bigwigs in the state capital too have come to light.
It may be recalled that despite the ban on hunting all over the country, many incidents of killing stags had come to light in Chikkamagaluru forest area..
