Investigators have uncovered the names to a few key players involved into the poaching and trading racket. One of the accomplices has been identified as Viju Vaidya, who had managed to give slip on the fateful night when Sunil Pun was arrested with tiger bones. Vaidya lives in Visapur village and was following Pun's car on his bike, but fled when lurking team of forest officials arrested Pun.

Pun and Vaidya were reportedly involved in trading nexus and were dealing the sale of the bones. Investigation, however, uncovered the name of key accused Laxam Toram, who supplied them with the tiger bones and piece of its skin. Toram, allegedly an alcoholic, recently underwent surgery at civil hospital for abdominal ulcer and is still hospitalized. A guard was posted to keep watch on him at the hospital as soon as officials learnt about his involvement in the case on Tuesday.

Sources said forest officers on Wednesday went to the hospital and took oral statement of Laxman Toram. He lives in Lalpeth locality on the outskirts of Chandrapur and used to frequent the nearby forest with others to bring firewood. Two probable locations of poaching have surfaced during the investigations.

Sources said Toram had feigned innocence and claimed recovering remains of dead tiger in the forest stretch behind government engineering college. Investigators have also got hints that the tigress might have been poached in the forest around Bhivkund nullah. The arrested accused are being interrogated to ascertain the exact spot of the poaching and modus operandi of the poacher.

Forest officials, meanwhile, rounded up Toram's son Shrawan from Shrirampur in Telangana on Wednesday suspecting his involvement. Similarly, one Shankar Mamilwar, close aide of Laxman Toram, too was arrested later in the day. Forest officials have reportedly learnt names of a few more accomplices of Toram and raids are underway to arrest them.