Bargarh: The Special Task Force (STF) of the State Crime Branch, probing the killing of the Royal Bengal Tiger (RBT) in Debrigarh Sanctuary, has taken the four poachers arrested in this connection on remand for two days for further interrogation.
Meanwhile, the town police arrested two more persons in connection with the incident. However, the police remained tight-lipped about the arrest.
After the court of the Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate (SDJM), Bargarh, allowed them the remand of the accused, CB sleuths took them to Bargarh Town police station for interrogation by a four-member team led by DSP Bilasini Nayak.
Crime Branch ADG Santosh Kumar Upadhyay Tuesday told media persons, “The court has granted us two-day remand of the arrested accused. In order to properly utilise the remand time, our IG, Arun Bothra, has taken over the supervision of the case. He has left for Bargarh in this regard.”
He added, “Besides, our DSP, who is the investigating officer (IO), is also on the job and focusing on the missing links of the case as well as finding out other accused persons in the case.”
“We’re trying to solve the case soon and hence, our investigation is going on in full swing. The Forest department has also collected certain important clues and sent the samples for forensic test. We’ll verify in detail. IG will personally supervise on the spot. Thus, all angles will be looked into during the course of our investigation as it is a sensitive matter,” stated the Crime Branch ADG.
Notably, the carcass of a Royal Bengal Tiger had been discovered inside Debrigarh Wildlife Sanctuary in Bargarh district October 28.
Earlier, four accused were apprehended by the Forest department. The accused, identified as Sushil Bhoi, Satyaban Sahu, Jekria Tidu and Gauri Mirddha of Khajuria village, had been found in possession of the tiger’s paw, nails and four whiskers.
It was first speculated that the decomposed carcass found inside the forest was of a leopard. However, the poachers arrested by the Forest department confessed that it was indeed a Royal Bengal Tiger that had got trapped in a trap they had laid near the field on the outskirts of the sanctuary to catch wild boars.
While the Forest and Environment minister Bijayshree Routray and Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF), Wildlife, Sandip Tripathy had claimed that the carcass was that of a leopard, they later maintained that the carcass belongs to a Royal Bengal tiger after the confession of the poachers.
PNN