Bargarh: Two special teams from the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the state Crime Branch (wildlife) started a probe into the poaching of a Royal Bengal Tiger in Debrigarh Wildlife Sanctuary in this district Monday.
One of the teams was led by Hemant Kamdi, AIG (Nagpur) of NTCA and Abhijit Ray Choudhury of the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau in Jabalpur, while a four-member team of the state Crime Branch was led by Deputy Superintendent of Police Bilasini Sethy.
According to reports, the carcass of the tiger was recovered from the Damodarpada jungle on the fringes of the sanctuary October 28. The forest officials first claimed that the animal was a leopard, but later admitted that it was an RBT after four poachers, who were arrested for the offence, confirmed this.
The two teams of NTCA and Crime Branch reached the spot at 10 am. They first visited the Damodarpada jungle where the tiger was killed after coming in contact with livewires laid by the poachers to hunt wild boars.
They examined the spot and its surroundings and the place where the poachers had buried the carcass. The teams then visited the Debrigarh sanctuary which is 600 mtrs away from the place where the dead animal was buried.
Later, they visited the Khajuria village on the fringes of the sanctuary and interacted with the inhabitants about the poaching of the tiger.
When contacted, CB DSP Nayak said a probe is on to ascertain the involvement of more persons in the tiger’s killing and the truth will come out after completion of the investigation.
Bargarh divisional forest officer Abhaya Kumar Dalei, assistant conservator of forest Madanlal Sharma and Bhatli forest ranger Rajendra Bhoi accompanied the teams during their visit.
PNN