Tiger chopped into 10 pieces in Maharashtra

Throwing an audacious challenge to the state forest department, the poachers have struck once again, killing a tiger in Chandrapur forest range. The mutilated carcass of a tiger - sans head and paws and chopped into 10 pieces - was recovered in Borda jungle along Chichpalli-Borda road on Friday morning. The poachers' brazen act makes a mockery of the red alert sounded by the state government based on intelligence inputs that tiger poachers from the Baheliya community from Madhya Pradesh were given a contract for poaching 25 tigers in Maharashtra, especially in Vidarbha region. Forest department has declared reward of Rs 1 lakh for anyone providing information about the tiger poachers. Forest department was on high alert since the tiger poaching at Palasgaon range last month. Chandrapur has lost six tigers in the wild this year -- five were been either poached or killed accidentally and the sixth was maimed in an iron jaw trap. The vigil was intensified in the jungles after state government sounded a red alert. Investigators believe that the tiger was electrocuted by poachers at some distant location. Later its carcass severed into 10 pieces must have been brought in a four-wheeler and dumped in compartment no. 520 of Borda jungle. The incident came to light at round 9.30 am when the forest beat guard discovered the mutilated parts of a tiger scattered a few meters off the road. DCF, Chandrapur forest division, P Kalyankumar and RFO, Chandrapur range, Abhay Badkelwar immediately rushed to the spot. Foresters failed traced any sign of poaching in the surroundings and even the sniffer dog was of no help. Foresters cordoned off the area around the carcass. Investigators claimed that it was a full grown male tiger aged over eight years. They discovered a burn mark on one of limbs of the severed carcass which suggested electrocution. "There is a possibility of electrocution," he said Kalyankumar. He confirmed that a Rs 1 lakh reward was announced to those providing information about poaching. "The tiger was killed at some other place. After removing the head and paws of the tiger, the poachers chopped the carcass into pieces," said Badkelwar. He informed they have found signs of dragging of the carcass and the marks of car making U-turn around 20 metres from the spot. The carcass was recovered in three clusters of six, three and one pieces side by side, while the tail was thrown few feet away. The chopped pieces still had skin over it, but head and four paws, were missing. The carcass was fresh and tiger might have been killed on Thursday night. Badkelwar said, "It is most likely that some local poachers had set up a live wire for a herbivore, but the tiger got killed instead."