The team of around five-six senior officials had left for Majoli Kadao on Saturday based on interaction between arrested poachers and their relatives there. The team was on a hunt for Bharo and Luchi, the two poachers who are wanted in the killing of Ghatang tiger in Melghat in May this year.

According to highly placed sources in the MP forest department, the officials from Maharashtra ended up beating two persons, one of them a woman, with an iron rod over resistance to hand over their cellphones.

The matter flared up but it was settled after intervention of local forest department officials. They said the cellphones seized by the officials did not have a battery or sim card. The MP officials are irked over the way the raid was carried out on poachers' hideouts.

"Although we provided logistic support to the Maharashtra team, help of local police personnel was not taken. The team also did not have pictures of poachers and didn't look prepared," Jabalpur forest officials confirmed.

TOI tried to talk to a section of the state forest officials involved in monitoring the tiger poaching investigations but there was no positive response.

The state forest officials have suddenly swung into action, specially after chief minister Prithviraj Chavan announced a CBI probe on July 30, in tiger poaching cases in Vidarbha and Madhya Pradesh.

The state team had gone to Jabalpur based on the interaction between arrested poacher Yarlen and his other mother while in custody. Yarlen's mother is alleged to have a tiger skin. This was also one of the reasons why the state team had gone to Jabalpur.

The move seems to be belated as Yarlen was handed over to state officials by MP officials on June 27. It is over a month the team went in search of Yarlen's mother and other poachers. The tiger skin must have been disposed of by now and poachers also must have gone into hiding. Already, the call details of tiger skin agent Sarju Bagdi, who procured 11 skins from Aamdi and Bhandarbodi near Ramtek, have been traced to Nepal.

Meanwhile, two brothers Parman Sawalkar and Soberam Sawalkar were arrested on Friday from Melghat for siding with tiger poachers in Ghatang. This has taken the total number of arrested persons in tiger poaching cases to 8.

Counsel for forest department Kartik Shukul argued strongly after which Parman was granted forest custody remand (FCR) till August 7, and Soberam was sent to magisterial custody by the JMFC. Earlier, both had got bail in bear poaching case in Ghatang.

Although, all the five tiger poachers have been under MCR till August 12, the ruling on bail application of three poachers - Siri, Yarlen and Barsul will be held on Monday. The forest department is likely to file a chargesheet against poachers on Monday, failing to which poachers may de facto get bail.