The three were arrested from Zaveri's palatial Prerak bungalow near Karelibaug in the afternoon. However, they were immediately released on production of an anticipatory bail order which the accused had obtained from the Gujarat High Court.

Forest department officials said the arrest was made under Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 under which a case had been registered against the accused persons. The forest team which made the arrest include range forest officer B M Patel and forester K K Yadav. Snehal Bhatt of the Gujarat Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, who is a government witness in the case, was also present at the time of arrest, forest department sources told Express Newsline.

Earlier, the accused had been arrested by the Fatehgunj police in the same case lodged by Snehal Bhatt and were released on bail subsequently.The forest department is also looking for three other accused, all connected with the Apollo Circus, who made the cub available. They are circus owner Ranjan Kumar Das, manager V C Shanku and caretaker Vilas Malavi. They are likely to be arrested in a day or two, forest department sources said.

The birthday party was also attended by senior police officials including Special Inspector General of Police, Vadodara Range, D.D. Tuteja as well as District Superintendent of Police(Rural) Shamsher Singh. But they had denied of having seen the cub at the party.

The cub, which was seized by the forest department officials has now been shifted to Gandhinagar.