Seven persons were arrested after a tiger skin was allegedly found in their possession in Bijapur district in Chhattisgarh, officials said on Saturday.
The seven were held on a specific inputs on Friday night from Rudraram village in Madded buffer range of Indravati Tiger Reserve, its deputy director Ganvir Dhammshil said.
"The action was carried out by a joint team of Indravati Tiger Reserve, anti-poaching team of Udanti-Sitanadi Tiger Reserve (Gariaband district) and Bijapur forest division. Those held were identified as Vikram Thakur, Pritam Lal Sahu, Tameshwar Jain, Kaka Dipak, Manoj Kursam, Kishore Dashrahiya and Arti Das," he said.
"Two more persons are wanted in the case. A probe is underway to find out details of the tiger skin. The accused have claimed the skin was for some ritual," he said.
Deputy Director of Udanti Sitanadi tiger reserve Varun Jain said, prime facie, it seems the killed tiger was a sub-adult and was poached 3-4 months back.
"The actual area of poaching is yet to be ascertained. The picture of the skin will be sent to National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) to match its stripes with images of tigers captured in trap cameras in Bijapur or adjoining forest patch in Maharashtra," he said.
The alleged involvement of two policemen in the crime has also surfaced and they are being interrogated currently, Jain informed.
Published 01 July 2023, 09:40 IST