The trustees stumbled upon the stock hidden in one of the rooms of the temple, which is currently undergoing renovation.
Credit: Special Arrangement
Ahmedabad: Over three dozen suspected tiger skins and as many as 133 tiger claws have been found hidden inside a room in a famous temple in Rajpipla town in Narmada district on Thursday.
The forest officials said that the trustees of the Dharmeshwar Mahadev temple in Rajpipla informed them about the discovery of skins found during repair work. The trustees stumbled upon the stock hidden in one of the rooms of the temple, which is currently undergoing renovation.
"We have recovered 37 intact skins, four fragmented ones, and 133 claws. At this stage, we cannot definitively confirm whether they are genuine or counterfeit. Samples have been sent for forensic examination to determine their authenticity," Rajpipla range forest officer Jignesh Soni told DH.
Forest officials said that the skins and claws are wrapped in newspapers dated from 1992 to 1993. The room where the skins were found belonged to the temple priest who passed away about five months ago.
The priest identified as Madhavanand hailed from bordering state Madhya Pradesh from where lots of sadhus visited him and the temple.
Sources in the forest department said that "some of the skins and claws may be counterfeit but nothing for sure can be said at this moment."
"If they are genuine, it may be the biggest wildlife crime case in the state. We have registered an FIR under relevant sections and will launch a thorough investigation once we have forensic results," said senior forest officer in Gandhinagar.