Three people were arrested on Thursday for killing Bandhavgarh’s most popular tigress, Amanalabali, and dumping her body in a well, a forest department official said. The tigress was 14 years old.
A team of forest officials arrested Shivlal Baiga, Babulal Baiga and Kailash Baiga, all residents of Kanchhoha village which falls in the buffer zone of the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve (BTR). The fourth accused-- Kalyan Baiga is absconding.
“They pulled out teeth, whiskers and nails of the tigress after she was killed,” said Vincet Raheem, tiger reserve’s field director.
On September 1, forest officials recovered the carcass of a tigress from a well in Manpur forest range, which falls in the buffer zone of the tiger reserve. The carcass was stuffed in a sack and it was thrown into the well after loading the sack with heavy stones. There were injury marks on the carcass of the tigress. The carcass was identified as T-32, the most popular tigress in the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve.
“Forest officials detained Shivlal Baiga. During interrogation, Baiga confessed his crime. He said they laid a live electrified wire trap near the Damna beat of the forest to kill wild boar. But when they saw that a tiger was trapped in the wire, they disconnected the wire. They pulled out the teeth, whiskers and nails with the help of an axe,” said Raheem.
{{/usCountry}}“Forest officials detained Shivlal Baiga. During interrogation, Baiga confessed his crime. He said they laid a live electrified wire trap near the Damna beat of the forest to kill wild boar. But when they saw that a tiger was trapped in the wire, they disconnected the wire. They pulled out the teeth, whiskers and nails with the help of an axe,” said Raheem.
{{/usCountry}}The accused kept the teeth, whiskers and nails for occult practice and as a lucky charm.
To hide the crime, they stuffed the carcass into a sack and threw it into the well.
Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve has 124 tigers, of which 45 tigers are in the buffer zone. It is considered Madhya Pradesh’s most congested habitat for tigers.