Activists urge govt to fast-track 2015 tiger poaching case

Wildlife activists have urged the government and the forest department to follow up on a 2015 tiger poaching case.

In 2015, the Range Forest Officer, Punajanur, caught a man, Selvakumar, when he was carrying different parts of a tiger carcass - totally weighing 6 kg. The accused was from a village near Mettupalyam in Tamil Nadu.

Addressing the media, wildlife activist Joseph Hoover and other activists said the accused was acting on behalf of a wildlife NGO. "The NGO wanted to trap a poacher and take credit for the same. It set up a decoy (Selvakumar) to lure poachers. The decoy, in turn, hired some agents for the job. But as things turned out, the agents (now under arrest) themselves shot a tiger," he said.

He said Selvakumar was instigated to file a false case of atrocity against a senior forest officer who arrested him. "The government needs to rescue the forest officials who are being harassed by the NGOs. It has to approach the court seeking fast-tracking of the case," he said.

An official in the department said the Madras High Court has stayed the case against Selvakumar. "The court has stayed the original (poaching) matter till other issues, including the case against the conservator, are settled," the official explained.