Accused had poisoned tiger in Bijnor’s Badapur range: SSP

Tuesday, 25 JULY 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN

The Uttarakhand Special Task Force (STF) has arrested a Wildlife poacher for killing a Tiger whose 11 feet long pelt and 15 kilogrammes of bones were seized by authorities late on Saturday. The accused has reportedly confessed to poisoning the tiger in the Badapur range of Bijnor in Uttar Pradesh two months ago, said the STF senior superintendent of police Ayush Agrawal. He said that a joint team of STF, Wildlife Crime Control Bureau and Terai East forest division had arrested four wildlife smugglers on Saturday who were identified as Krishan Kumar, Gajendra Singh, Sanjay Kumar, and Harish Kumar. They all belong to Pithoragarh’s Dharchula area and were nabbed from Udham Singh Nagar’s Khatima area. The accused stated during the investigation that they had sourced the tiger’s pelt and bones from a man in Kashipur, said Agrawal. He said that a joint team of STF and the forest division of Haldwani was formed to nab the poacher who was arrested from the Kashipur Mandi area late on Sunday. The accused has been identified as Arjun Singh (40), a resident of the Nehru Colony area of Dehradun. The SSP said that Singh is a cunning wildlife poacher and several cases are registered against him under the Wildlife Act in various cities. “He confessed to poisoning a tiger in the Badapur range of Bijnor two months ago. He said that he had skinned the tiger and removed its bones. He had given the pelt and bones to the four smugglers to sell who were nabbed by authorities on Saturday,” informed SSP. The STF is looking into its criminal history besides investigating the poaching network of the accused which could lead to more arrests in future too, he added.