4 arrested with tiger skin, bones by STF

Four smugglers arrested, 11-ft tiger hide, 15kg bones seized in U’khand

Udham Singh Nagar: Four smugglers arrested with tiger skin, hunter also caught

Khatima / Rudrapur: A joint team of STF and Forest Department has arrested four smugglers with tiger skin and bones. The recovered skin is said to be the biggest skin recovered so far in Uttarakhand. DFO Sandeep Kumar disclosed the case on Sunday. Wildlife smuggler and hunter Arjun, who killed a tiger and sold its skin to smugglers, has been arrested from Kashipur. The accused killed the tiger by pouring rat poison on the carcass of the hunted pig and then very carefully removed its skin and bones.

Under the leadership of CO STF Sumit Pandey, a joint team of Uttarakhand STF, Wildlife Crime Control Bureau Delhi and Terai Eastern Forest Division Haldwani’s SOG was on patrol to arrest the miscreants smuggling wildlife organs. STF received information late on Saturday night that four vicious smugglers were coming to Khatima from white colored Bolero number (UK05TA-2815). On this, the joint team laid siege and stopped them near Khatima Pahaniya toll plaza. On search, 11 feet long tiger skin and 10.4 kg bones were recovered from inside the vehicle. The arrested smugglers told the STF during interrogation that they were coming to Khatima to sell the tiger skin and bone from a person resident of Kashipur. The accused told their names as Krishna Kumar, resident of village Bagicha (Dharchula), Gajendra Singh, Sanjay Kumar and Harish Kumar, resident of Gothi Kalika (Dharchula), Pithoragarh. A case has been registered against the four miscreants involved in smuggling of wildlife organs for a long time under the Wildlife Act and Wild Life Act. Constables Mahendra Giri and Kishore Kumar played a special role in this action of STF. STF is investigating where and when such a big tiger was hunted. More arrests will be made soon.(HB)