3 arrested for allegedly killing tiger known as ‘lockdown’ in Kanha Reserve

Wild activist Ajay Dubey said this incident raises the serious question on the security of tigers as the forest department came to know about the death after three months

Bhopal: Three people have been arrested for allegedly killing a five-year-old male tiger, locally known as ‘lockdown’, as he was born during imposition of lockdown to contain Covid 19, in the Kanha Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh, officials said on Monday.

A forest official said the accused were trying to sell the tiger skin for occult practise in the area. (Representational image)

A joint team of forest and police arrested Mistar Singh and Govind Singh, residents of Bhimpuri village, with tiger skin on the night of October Saturday night. The team arrested another accused, Aghhan, a resident of Ataria, on Sunday.

The accused were trying to sell the skin for occult practise in the area.

“The accused informed the police that they laid a live electric wire to kill a wild boar but the male tiger aged five years, which was popularly known as ‘lockdown’, was electrocuted to death about three months ago. The accused didn’t inform the forest official but hid the body. Later, they removed the skin and also disposed of the other parts of the carcass to sell it to local occultists,” said L Krishnamurthy, additional principal chief conservator of forest (APCCF), wildlife.

As of now, the probe team didn’t find any involvement of organised gangs or poachers but investigation is going on, he added.

Lockdown was popular among tourists in the Bichiya area of Kanha Tiger Reserve.

Wildlife activist Ajay Dubey said, “This incident raises the serious question on the security of tigers as the forest department came to know about the death after three months. How they are tracking other tigers when they failed to track the popular one!”