MYSURU/CHIKKAMAGALURU: A gang that gunned down two sambar , skinned and chopped one and was transporting its carcass in two four-wheelers to a nearby village to cook, was caught red-handed by Bhadra Tiger Reserve officials in the pre-dawn hours of New Year's Day . Eleven persons, including a sharpshooter, a techie and marginal farmers from Bengaluru, Hassan, Kodagu and Chikkamagaluru, were arrested and booked for poaching wildlife close to a tiger reserve. Rafiq Ahamed, a skilled shooter, is on the run.Bhadra Tiger Reserve chief conservator and director PB Karunakara told TOI that they arrested 11 of the 12-member gang and a probe is under way after booking them under the provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act.The gang went on a hunt in a coffee estate close to Bhadra Tiger Reserve, as part of New Year celebrations. The seven-member gang was assisted by four locals to spot the deer. There are a few pockets where sambar come out of the forest and then move back during the nights. The gang identified one such pocket near Netheechowka and hunted two sambars - a stag and a deer. Before carrying away its carcass, they neatly skinned and chopped the deer, while the carcass of the stag was intact.