Two held for killing tigress

The arrests were made in the state's Kawardha district in a joint raid carried out by police and forest officials. Forest department officials say that more arrests were likely in the case in a day or two.

The forest department was under pressure to make breakthrough into the death of the six-year-old tigress which was found dead at Bhoramdev sanctuary in Kawardha, about 200 km from Raipur.

Forest officials, quoting the updated probe report, said that the tigress was in all likelihood poisoned to death, probably by poachers who took away its claws and other vital organs.

The state government has already suspended a forest ranger, Manas Roy, posted in Kawardha district, holding him prima facie responsible for the killing. It has also set up a committee to probe the killing in detail.

The latest killing of the tigress has raised a serious question about safety of the big cats in Chhattisgarh as in September, hundreds of villagers in the state's Rajnandgaon district lynched a Royal Bengal tigress in the presence of forest officials.