16th August 2005

One tiger skin, 7 kg tiger bones and 18 teeth were seized by the Uttar Pradesh Forest Department on 16 August 2005. Three people have been arrested.

Following a wildlife conservation awareness campaign run by the Forest Department, villagers of Hallowali approached the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of the Bijnore Plantation Division to say that they had caught three suspicious-looking men carrying a reeking bundle near their village. On reaching the spot, the DFO, Mr. Sunil Dubey, recovered the tiger parts and arrested the three men.

According to preliminary information gathered by the Wildlife Protection Society of India, two of the accused are from Haryana while the third is from West Bengal. They claimed that they had come across a dead tiger near the jungle, and collected its parts for sale. However, the skin – which is that of a full grown tiger – contradicts their statement. It has trap marks on one of its paws.

WPSI is assisting the Forest Department in this case. WPSI’s records show that one of the accused has been arrested earlier for the possession of a tiger trap in the neighbouring state of Uttaranchal. The accused have been sent to jail by the Chief Judicial Magistrate of Bijnore.