Seven notorious poachers, including Tota Ram Bawaria, were arrested on Monday in a joint operation by the Forest Department and Champawat police SOG for poaching a tiger in Uttarakhand a few days ago.

According to the State Forest and Environment Advisory Committee vice-chairman Anil Baluni, the bones of the tiger poached were also recovered from Tota Ram who had made a deal with a Nepal resident for the tiger skin.

The trap, weapons and tools used for poaching and skinning the tiger were also recovered from them after they were nabbed from different locations in the Terai. On October 14, the department personnel had discovered the skin of a freshly poached tiger in the Sharda range near Tanakpur, following which the authorities had launched a manhunt for the poachers.

According to Baluni Tota Ram and his son Ram Chander played the main role in the tiger poaching, along with Naresha, Hasim Gujjar, his son Yakub and Karim who were all arrested on Monday.

Haryana-based Tota Ram is a notorious tiger poacher who had been arrested twice in the past near the Nepal border with tiger skins. In the latest case, he had made a deal with Mahendranagar, Nepal resident Ram Bahadur Thapa to sell the tiger skin for over `1 lakh. The authorities are currently questioning the arrested poachers and as they are habitual offenders, the Forest Department will press for booking cases against them under the Gangster Act, Baluni said.