Ranjeet, who worked closely with notorious tiger skin trader Sansar Chand, is wanted by CBI in a 2009 poaching case. He is also wanted in several other poaching cases across the country.

Field directors have been asked to keep strict vigil and report any suspicious activity around the protected areas. Officers in MP deny having any information on Bawariya. However, if his call records are anything to go by, Ranjeet was in contact with several poachers in MP and other states, who were already on surveillance.

Sources said Bawariya is from Punjab, and has changed 36 mobile handsets to evade investigators. He seems aware that forest officials are trying to get his location with the help of International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number, police sources added. Of all the calls that he made using his number, two receivers were in Dindori and Jabalpur districts.

One of them has been identified as "Special Bai", resident of 74, Sachouli Padhariya Kala in Dindori. Efforts are also being made to identify the other person, a resident of Bankheri village in Jabalpur, said sources. All calls were made from August 1, 2012 to March 4, 2013. Ranjeet was involved in killing a tiger at Dhakna in Melghat Tiger Reserve, according to a TOI report in the Nagpur edition.

MP forest department will take him on transit remand once their Maharashtra counterparts are through with their questioning.