The police and the Forest staff of Biligiriranganathaswamy Tiger Reserve, in a joint operation, arrested nine tiger poachers on Sunday.
The arrested have been identified as Bawarnath, Jaisheelnath, Abunath, Lalnath, Sharmanath, Rajnath, Rameshnath, Babunath and Prakshnath, all from Madhya Pradesh. They had camped at RS Doddi near Hanur in Kollegal taluk, disguising themselves as petty traders.
The police recovered 15 tiger claws, two canine teeth of big cats, and Rs 5 lakh in cash from the arrested. A bank pass book seized from the arrested disclosed that the suspects transacted up to Rs 50 lakh a month, officials said. It is also suspected that they might be in contact with international wildlife mafia.
However, only a thorough investigation can throw light on their involvement, officials added.
Published 30 December 2013, 03:23 IST