CHANDRAPUR: A beheaded and skinned carcass of an animal, suspected to be that of a tiger, was found in Sindewahi forest range under North Chandrapur Forest Circle of Maharashtra on Saturday morning. The claws and tail of the animal were also missing.

The discovery of the carcass, chopped into pieces in the bushes near Karghata road about 2 km from Sindewahi, points towards a poaching racket being active in the area. Forest officials have launched an intensive search operation in the jungle with other investigating agencies to recover the other remains of the body. The poaching theory gains further credence from the fact that the viscera of the carcass was missing.

Sources said villagers going to the jungle were the first to spot the carcass, wrapped in a red plastic bag, on Saturday morning. The people immediately informed the forest officials about it. About 8 am, a team of forest officials led by K O Semaskar, range forest officer, Sindewahi forest range, reached the spot and confiscated the carcass.

"We are still uncertain about the identification of the animal, and have decided to send the samples to the forensic lab at Nagpur," said Semaskar, adding that the meat recovered weighed around 25 kg. It will take around 10 days to receive the report from forensic lab.

He said the wild animal was not killed where the carcass was recovered, but somebody had 'thrown' it there after killing the animal at some other place.