Poaching claims another tiger

BHOPAL, FEBRUARY 23: Amid rising concerns over alarming decline in tiger population, the state lost one more big cat on Friday. The eight-year-old tiger was undergoing treatment for gunshot injuries at Bhopal’s Van Vihar National Park for the past five days. A poacher fired from a 12-bore weapon at the tiger in Satna district rendering it almost paralysed.

The tiger had to be tranquilised before it was captured in Uchehra range and brought here on Monday. The animal appeared to be out of danger and showed signs of recovery after a couple of operations but succumbed to his injuries on Friday evening.

The state has lost several tigers in the last few months to old age, diseases and territorial fights but this is the first known case of poaching in recent times. In the incident, one Biharilal Kol (40), a resident of Beta village, not far from the spot where the injured cat was first spotted, was arrested and a gun was recovered from him. “However, he has not confessed to the crime,” DFO (Satna) N K Sharma told The Sunday Express. Kol, who was part of a gang of dacoits, has been remanded to judicial custody.

In the absence of an eyewitness, the forest officials are depending on the ballistics probe report that will prove if the gun recovered from Kol was used in the crime.

A ranger admitted that a negative report would affect the progress of investigation as “we have no idea what to do in that eventuality”. The only case, the ranger said, that can be made out against Kol is carrying a gun in the prohibited area.

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