BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh poachers find a suitable alternative for world famous pain healer 'Tiger balm'.
Poachers killed a radio-collared tiger of Satpura Tiger Reserve (STR) and extracted oil from its fat for using it as a remedy for aches and erectile dysfunction, said sources.
In a joint operation, the officers of Special task force (STF) of state's forest department and Satpura Tiger Reserve (STR) have confiscated two bottles of suspected 'Tiger's fat oil' from the poaching network linked to an international gang.
Oil was seized from Srivas of Sakhai village in Hoshangabad and Yunus from Itarsi. Both of them were arrested along with 10 other poachers during a month long operation.
"We have sent samples for laboratory examination to different laboratories. If this oil was extracted from tiger fat, it would be a new trend that has come to fore," said R P Singh, director of the Satpura Tiger Reserve (STR).
Samples have been sent to Centre for Cellular & Molecular Biology (CCMB) Hyderabad and Wildlife health monitoring centre (WHMC) Jabalpur for DNA analysis. Different teams have been dispatched to Delhi and other areas for more arrest in the tiger poaching case. Besides oil, officials have also sent samples of bones for verification.
"Unless and until the skin is recovered we won't be able identify the tiger that they have killed," said the STR director.
Inputs on killing of a tiger had surfaced during interrogation of a gang of Pangolin poachers arrested by STF officials from Sakai village this week. The village is located in the tiger reserve's core area.
Thirteen people, including a former village sarpanch were arrested during routine patrolling by forest guards. Spear and pangolin scales were seized from them. During interrogation, one of the accused told STF officials they had also killed a tiger by poisoning its kill near Sakai village and it had a radio-collar. STR officials believe these poachers are connected to an international poaching syndicate with roots in MP, UP and Maharashtra.
Accused Yunus was arrested on the basis of phone surveillance. He had made more than 180 calls to a person in MajnukaTila area in Delhi who was already under surveillance.
