Madhya Pradesh: Tiger Poachers Elusive, Forest Officials Grapple With Unsolved Cases

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Some sensational tiger poaching cases have been dragging on without a breakthrough, keeping forest staff under pressure. In these cases, either the accused haven’t been arrested or their identities are yet to be ascertained.

Poaching of a tiger in August near the Satpura Tiger Reserve of Narmadapuram is one such case. More than a month has passed, but forest officials have yet to get any solid clue against the accused. Their identities remain elusive despite an announcement of a cash reward of Rs 25,000 for their heads.

Field Director of Satpura Tiger Reserve, Rakhi Nanda, confirmed that the accused are absconding. She added that in some cases, time is required to arrest the accused due to various reasons.

In this case, the tiger was killed with the help of a snare, and the poachers allegedly made away with one of its paws. Its body was found floating in the backwaters of a local river.

Another unsolved case is from the Chiklodh area in the outskirts of Bhopal, where a tiger was poached during last year’s monsoon. 

A senior Forest officer of the Raisen district said that, as per his knowledge, a challan was presented in court against two accused, but there are back links in the case which need to be uncovered. This case was sensational as the accused had precisely shot at the head of the tiger with a modern firearm. 

The third noteworthy case is from the Balaghat circle, where a tiger’s corpse was allegedly burnt by a few Forest officials to cover up the incident. Some of the accused Forest employees are still on the run. 

Wildlife activist Ajay Dubey asserted that these incidents reflect poor intelligence and cracks in priority security arrangements. He said it was time that the state had a special Tiger Protection Force to deal with poachers.