Mumbai link to tiger poaching

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Hyderabad, April 13: The Andhra Pradesh forest department is probing

the Mumbai link of the tiger poaching that occurred at Narsampet

reserve forest area in Warangal district.

It is suspected that one of the accused in the case, Raheem, was in

contact with people in Mumbai allegedly to sell off the tiger skin and

claws.

" We have seized on more claw and we are now hunting for other accused

in the case, " said the Kothaguda divisional forest officer, Mr

Mohammed Abdul Wa-heed.

Forest officials are collecting the mobile phone data of Raheem and

other accused to trace out their inter-state connections. The

cellphone used by Raheem is registered in the name of one Ms Anuradha

of Hyderabad. Forest officials already arrested several accused in the

case including a doctor, O. Venkateswarlu.

" The tiger skin and claws have a big market in Indonesia and other

Southeast Asian countries, " said Mr Waheed. " We have to see whether

this investigation leads us to some international racket, " he said.

The tiger was killed in Gangaram village of Warangal near the border

with Khammam district. The poachers killed the tiger and skinned it in

the village to sell off the skin and claws. Police seized the tiger

skin during a routine check.

" The skin and claws are sold for Rs 30,000 locally but become worth

lakhs when they reach Mumbai and Kolkata, " said an official. " Once

they cross the borders they would cost even more, " he added.

In an earlier case involving the killing of the tiger Sakhi too, the

skin was seized from a house of one of the accused in Mumbai.

" The key accused, Salahuddin, took the skin to Mumbai and had hidden

it in a house, " said the official.

Ironically, the AP forest department wild life wing has no list of

notorious poachers in the

State. They do not even maintain sheets on the known smugglers of

forest produce.

The state government is also sitting on the proposal to set up a Wild

Life Crime Bureau that would basically look into poaching cases.

A senior official of the wild life wing said, " We don't maintain any

history sheets of poachers as there is no enough staff. An

anti-poaching squad was formed but its duties are limited.

" In such crimes the data of first timers is necessary as the hunting

habit persists in them, " the official said.

 

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/hyderabad/mumbai-link-tiger-poaching-233

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