The accused poachers were identified as RokinJerPatlepawar, TiliaNaretPardhi and TyohariNaretPardhi, all belonging to Baheliyacommunity from Katni. They were brought from Jabalpur on transit custody by a team of CBI and forest officials late on Monday night. The three accused were arrested from Unchehara, a small town in Satna district, on Sunday by a team of Madhya Pradesh Special Task Force (wildlife).

Interestingly, when arrested, the poachers were accompanied by another poacher couple, Minar and Nirafal, who were released a couple of months ago from Nagpur Central Jail after serving a three-year sentence in a tiger poaching case at Melghat.

Seeking long custody of the accused, special counsel for forest department and CBI KartikShukul said the accused have to be taken to the spot of the incident, which lies in remote and almost inaccessible areas of Masondi in Melghat Tiger Reserve. Shukul further told the court that accused have to be confronted with other poachers languishing in jail. "We also need to record their statements," he told.

On the contrary, defence counsel Prashant Masurkar opposed custody claiming that they are not the ones who were wanted by the forest department. "They are not connected with the case at all," Masurkar said.

However, Shukul countered this by saying that the accused have been identified by informants and that they have not produced any paperwork to support their argument.

After hearing both parties, the court granted 10-day FCR to the accused. Forest sources said the accused are playing the same old trick of not revealing their role.

"All the accused, found from one spot, even refused to recognize each other. Besides, they said they have never seen a tiger, forget poaching," said sources.