Union Minister of Environment and Forests, Prakash Javadekar has praised the Karnataka Forest Department for nabbing five poachers who allegedly killed a tiger in Nagarahole Tiger Reserve recently. "Well done, Forest staff & officers of Nagarhole Tiger Reserve for nabbing all the culprits responsible for poaching the Tiger, in such quick time," Javadekar tweeted.
Well done , Forest staff & officers of Nagarhole Tiger Reserve for nabbing all the culprits responsible for poaching the Tiger, in such quick time. @moefcc https://t.co/lnakDKPEGh
— Prakash Javadekar (@PrakashJavdekar) September 6, 2020
All the five involved were nabbed within ten days, officials said, adding tiger claws, canines and deer meat among others have been recovered from them.
The accused have been identified as Santosh, Sashi, Sharanu, Ranjit and Raju. All of them come from a village which abuts the national park. They used a licensed double barrel gun to shoot the wild animals.
Santosh, Sashi and Ranjit are from wealthy families who own coffee estates while Raju is a labourer.
All the accused have been arrested under multiple acts such as the Wildlife Protection Act, hunting, collection of animal parts, illegally entering a national park, using a firearm and others.
The accused have been produced in court and are currently in judicial custody.
The hunt for the poachers had begun when forest officials noticed the unnatural death of a four to five-year-old male tiger on August 25 with its paws and canines missing, they were chopped off.
"We had no clue about the unnatural death because the tiger's nails and canines were removed though its skin was intact. Next day, on August 26, we conducted a post mortem on the animal to find a gunshot," D Mahesh Kumar, Deputy Conservator of Forests (DCF) and Director of Rajiv Gandhi National Park told IANS on September 5.
Guided by some leads on the same day, officials arrested one person but could not recover any of the stolen tiger parts.
"Subsequently, from August 28, a series of arrests have happened because we got a lead that some tiger nails were hidden in one of the coffee estates and succeeded in recovering seven nails," he said.
The poachers had shot dead the male tiger at Nagaraole and mutilated it for its claws and canines recently.
Karnataka Forest Minister Anand Singh, too, took to twitter appreciating the department officials.
He said swift action by officials and staff of the forest department at Nagarahole Tiger Reserve has led to the arrest of five poachers successfully.
"This is a warning bell for poachers. The government is committed to control poachers, increasing the number of animals, and bringing down man-tiger conflicts. We have a responsibility to hand over beautiful wildlife to our future generations," Singh tweeted.
Sniffer dog 'Rana' from Bandipur played a key role in tracing the poachers, officials said, adding that further investigation was on.