NAGPUR: Judicial magistrate first class (JMFC) R B Raja, on Wednesday, extended the forest custody remand (FCR) of Sarju Bagdi alias Suraj Bhan by a day till Thursday.
Sarju, who was arrested by Delhi Police on September 7, was brought on transit warrant to Nagpur for his involvement in procuring tiger skins from different gangs of poachers.
He had already been under FCR for 15 days and the court did not look keen to extend it. Yet, on an application by special counsel for the forest department Kartik Shukul, Sarju's FCR was extended.
In the meanwhile, the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) have asked all the tiger bearing states to check with Sarju about his involvement in similar crimes in their states.
Accordingly, different teams from MP came to Nagpur to interact with Sarju. Maharashtra officers advised them to get an offence registered if they were serious about the investigations.
The Maharashtra officers also shared inputs on poaching of two tigers from Balaghat and Seoni district. In another development, a team from Karnataka is reaching here to interrogate Sarju.
In August, six persons from Haryana from where Sarju hails, were convicted for poaching in Biligiriranga Swamy Temple Wildlife Sanctuary and Tiger Reserve in July 2012.
