more-in Forest officials gave chase to an off-road vehicle that was carrying five tourists into a reserve forest as part of an illegal safari on Saturday night. The tourists were trying to spot animals in the Singara forest range when they were spotted by forest department staff. After being chased by forest department staff, the driver of the vehicle, who was attempting to flee, lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a small ravine. Fortunately, no one was injured in the incident. Forest department officials said that a team of forest staff, along with anti-poaching watchers, spotted the illegal safari. After the vehicle came to a stop, the forest staff checked on the condition of the occupants and after ensuring that none were injured, took the driver of the vehicle Rajesh from Moyar into custody along with five tourists from Kerala. Acting on the instructions of the District Forest Officer (Nilgiris North Division), S Kalanidhi, a case was booked against all the six persons. The driver of the vehicle was fined ? 50,000 while the tourists were fined ? 10,000. Singara Forest Ranger S. Selvaraj told The Hindu that this was the second illegal vehicle safari that was stopped by forest staff in the last ten days, with another case being registered and a cumulative fine of ? 65,000 being imposed on April 15. “We want all the tourists to understand and realise that night safaris are strictly illegal and that we will take strict action against anyone who trespasses into reserve forests,” he said.

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