Kerala: Forest officials bust wildlife trafficking gang trying to sell tiger skin, claws, teeth; 7 held

Forest officials arrested a seven-member gang and seized tiger skin, claws, and teeth during an operation in the Kannur district of Kerala. The arrests followed secret intelligence inputs about an attempt to sell tiger body parts.Acting on the tip-off received on Friday night, forest officials launched a joint operation and tracked down three suspects near a school at Kathiroor in Thalassery taluk, officials told news agency PTI.The first to be arrested were Ashwin, a native of Eruvatti, and Sandheesh and Balan, both natives of Cheruvanchery.“From these persons, we recovered tiger skin, claws and teeth. They had reached the spot to sell these objects,” Nithinraj T, Forest Range Forest Officer, Kottiyoor, told PTI.Based on information obtained during preliminary interrogation, forest officials arrested four more persons, Sharath KK of Kallikandy, Rajeesh of Mangad, Vithul from Cheruvanchery and Rakhil from Malal.An Innova car allegedly used to transport the tiger body parts and a scooter used during the operation were also seized, ANI reported.“The seized objects were examined by a doctor, who confirmed that they belonged to a tiger. We have sent them for DNA testing as part of further investigation,” Nithinraj told PTI.According to ANI, the operation was carried out by a team led by Kottiyoor Range Officer Nithin Raj and the Kannur Forest Vigilance Unit, with participation from several forest and vigilance officers.The arrested persons were produced before the Thalassery Judicial First Class Magistrate Court on Saturday and remanded to judicial custody. Forest officials said they would soon approach the court seeking custody of the accused for further interrogation.Another forest official told PTI that the investigation so far has revealed that the arrested persons were allegedly linked to poachers operating in Karnataka, raising suspicion that the tiger may have been hunted there. However, whether the gang procured the tiger skin directly from poachers is yet to be ascertained.