Two persons were electrocuted after they stepped on an illegal live electric fence to prevent wild boars from entering agricultural land at Kuppanatham village near Chengam town in Tiruvannamalai on Friday.
In this connection, the police said that two farmers S. Arumugam (48) and K. Mahalingam (55) have been arrested. They dumped the bodies of the victims in a well in the village to escape police suspicion. The deceased persons have been identified as V. Samundi (27) and K. Arun Kumar (18). All of them belong to Kuppanatham village on the edge of the reserve forest (RF).
Investigation revealed that the group of friends namely Mohammed Rias (24), C. Silambu (22), Samundi and Arun Kumar were two teams. Each team went into the reserve forests through the farms in the village to hunt small wild animals such as rabbits and spotted deer.
Police said a team of Rias and Silambu managed to catch some wild rabbits and they left the forest area, while Samundi and Arun Kumar were returning empty-handed from RF to the farmland when they accidentally stepped on an illegal electric fence.
The bodies of the duo were found by police in a farm well near a forest area after family members complained that they had not returned home after long hours. Investigation revealed that the key suspect, Arumugam, was cultivating a paddy field on his agricultural land.
Police said Arumugam allegedly erected an illegal electric fence in a neighboring banana field owned by farmer Mohammed Basha to see the tracks of wild animals that damage the crops at night.
At first, Arumugam erected an illegal electric fence on his property, but despite damaging his crops, he was unable to spot any traces of wild animals. As a result, he moved the electric fence onto his neighbor’s farmland, police said.
Cases have been registered against the duo by the Chengam police. Special teams have been formed to nab the absconding Mahalingam. The bodies have been sent to the Government Medical College Hospital in Tiruvannamalai for post-mortem. A probe is underway.
Published – 14 Nov 2025 23:24 IST
