5 tiger nails seized near Tumsar in Maharashtra

The Economic Times , Tuesday, August 05, 2014
Correspondent : Vijay Pinjarkar
NAGPUR: Even as the dust on tiger skin seizure in Bhandara is yet to settle, forest officials have confiscated five tiger nails from the house of one of the arrested accused at Davezari village in Tumsar.

On July 27, wildlife and territorial forest officials from Gondia and Bhandara seized the skin of an eight-month-old tiger and 17 nails after luring the accused into a trap with the help of a Bengaluru-based NGO.

Till now, seven accused have been arrested, including one from Nagpur who used to finance the trade. A local court has remanded three accused to magisterial custody while orders on four accused have been reserved.

Accused Vikas Maraskolhe revealed during interrogation that he was also in possession of five tiger nails, which are six-month-old. Officials raided his house at Davezari late on Thursday evening and seized the nails.

Maraskolhe told investigating officials that he had procured the tiger nails from a person from Khawasa border on Mansar-Jabalpur road. He is also said to be in possession of a tiger skin, which is yet to be recovered.

The accused from Lendezari gave a slip to forest officials and is now absconding. A manhunt has been launched to track the culprit with officials also tracking the accused through cell phone.

Though investigating officials are trying to downplay the seizure of tiger skin and nails by pointing at links with Odisha and Chhattisgarh, the clandestine tiger skin and body parts trade is an indicator of large-scale poaching by not only organized Baheliya poachers but locals too.

A senior forest official seeking anonymity said, ""The poachers are locals and have no links with organized Baheliyas. It may be possible that sometimes tigers get in traps laid for herbivores. The skin seized is two years old.""

""Poaching seems to be rampant in the Nagzira-Pench corridor. This is despite crackdown against poachers and cases being fought in court. The forest department needs to develop local intelligence network,"" said Nishikant Mukherjee, a professor who runs Tiger Centre.

The latest (2014) tiger estimation figures show that there are no tigers left in Bhandara division while in Navegaon-Nagzira Tiger Reserve (NNTR), spread across 655 sq km, only six tigers were snapped during the camera trap exercise.

Maraskolhe, Tannekhan Rahmatkhan of Banerkatta in Chhattisgarh, and Premlal Darro of Deori in Gondia, who were planning to sell the skin and nails, revealed that the material was procured from a retired surveyor with land records department Kavish Bomanwar from Deori. During a raid, trophies and antlers of protected wild animals were seized from his house.

 
SOURCE : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/environment/flora-fauna/5-tiger-nails-seized-near-tumsar-in-maharashtra/articleshow/39633563.cms?prtpage=1
 


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