Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The Balaghat forest officials are groping in dark to trace the culprits who poached a full grown tiger on March 17. Some suspects have been rounded up, but investigating officials are yet to reach the real accused. Balaghat sub divisional officer (forest) BR Sirsam said that an investigation is underway along with the Special Tiger Force (STF).
He himself had apprehended two suspects and handed them over to the officials of the Forest Development Corporation as the case falls in their jurisdiction. So far, around five to six suspects have been rounded up for grilling. However, the case is yet to be cracked as nothing concrete could be known from the suspects.
One of the investigators of the case said the killers of the tiger do not seem to be professional poachers. Earlier, it was stated that poachers made away with paws, two canines and a piece of tail of the tiger but the investigation so far points that the tiger was not killed by the professional poachers.
“During the autopsy, some paws were found, hence the theory that poachers chopped off the paws of the tiger did not stand. The paws may have dissolved in water as the tiger’s body was found in a river near Tumri Tola village,” he said. He added that killers of the feline might have laid the electric trap to catch some other wild animal and the tiger got trapped in it. The investigators are probing the case from all angles. This is the first tiger poaching of the year so far.
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