India: Following the seizure of a tiger cub skin from South Deori in Gondia on Saturday, Gondia forest officials led by assistant conservator of forests (ACF) U T Bisen arrested four more persons for trafficking on Sunday. They suspect two more tiger skins are being traded.

While three persons had been held on Saturday, forest officials are on the lookout for five more accused who are absconding. “Some of the accused are from neighbouring Chhattisgarh, and it looks like an inter-state racket. The kingpin is still at large,” forest officials said.

“The seizure of the tiger skin is just the tip off the iceberg,” said Gondia honorary wildlife warden Sawan Bahekar.

The accused arrested on Sunday have been identified as Suresh Raut, Hemant Arkara, Mohan Uikey and one more, all of whom are from Chichgadh area. Rajkumar Meshram from Paraswada, Bhavesh Kalamkar from Charbhata and Surendra Sahare from Kanhalgaon were held on Saturday. All seven have been remanded to forest custody till October 20.

The accused told officials that the skin a six-month-old cub was handed over to them by some middlemen. They don’t have any record of wildlife crime. The tiger is suspected to have been poisoned. “Two more tiger skins, possibly of the mother and another cub, are feared to be trafficked,” sources said.

Two tiger poachers convicted

Nagpur: Two organized tiger poachers were convicted earlier this month and sentenced to three years and three months imprisonment and a fine of 10,000 by chief judicial magistrate (CJM) D P Ragit, reports Vijay Pinjarkar.

The accused, Minar Niraphal Chouhan and her uncle Arjun from Biruhali in Katni (MP), were convicted after they pleaded guilty of killing a tiger in Masondi in East Melghat in 2013.

Despite being convicted, both the accused will walk free after four months as they have already spent nearly three years in jail after their arrest. The punishment under the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 is between 3-7 years, and for first convictions, the punishment is normally three years.

Minar and Arjun were among nine poachers arrested from Pune by a team of Melghat forest officials in August 2013

(Source: Times of India)