A determined Thane Forest Department, acting swiftly, smoked out five people responsible for setting up metal snares that killed a leopard and a deer, whose carcasses were found last week inside Film City. Those arrested are from the Film City and Goregaon area. They had apparently switched off their phones and were hiding at home in fear.

The accused were produced before the Borivli metropolitan court where they were sent to three-day custody of the forest department. While everyone is surprised at how quickly the forest department found the accused, the breakthrough in the investigation was not easy, they said. Forest Department sources told mid-day that this was possible only because of the keen interest taken by Deputy Conservator of Forest Dr Jitendra Ramgaonkar , ACF Girija Desai and RFO Santosh Kank.