It was during Monday that Mikael Kuhmunen, Sirge’s Sami village, was informed that there were traces of a dead reindeer along the snowmobile trail between Harads and Sörviksudden.
Initially, he assessed it as a traffic accident, but after a closer look, he reassessed the situation.
– There are both blood trails near the road but also several that start inside the forest. In addition, there are human footprints that have followed a whole reindeer herd, he tells SVT.
Think they got shot
Mikael Kuhmunen also thinks that the blood trails seem to spread from all directions. Something he sees as a sign of head injuries.
– I think a reindeer has been killed and taken away from the site. Based on the blood trails in the forest, I believe that at least four have been shot in the main area, he says.
The police have drawn up a police report about theft (the suspected stolen reindeer) and will announce on Tuesday that a crime scene investigation will be carried out.
“Absolutely appalling acts and expressions of racism”
On Tuesday, the Swedish Sami Confederation (SSR) sent out a press release about the incident.
– It is completely unacceptable that this is allowed to continue year in and year out. These absolutely terrible acts are an expression of hatred and racism against the Sami but above all the practitioners of reindeer husbandry and it is time for our politicians to react but above all to act, says Matti Blind Berg, confederation chairman SSR.