Chandrapur forest officials were shocked when six armed youths, from affluent families in Hyderababd, landed at Talodhi, offering a helping hand in tracking a killer tigress.
Six ‘wildlife enthusiasts’ try hoodwinking forest officials in AP, Maharashtra
MUMBAI: A tigress waiting to be killed seems to have begun drawing hunters to the Bramhapuri division of Chandrapur district.
Chandrapur forest officials were shocked when six armed youths, from affluent families in Hyderababd, landed at Talodhi on Thursday, offering a helping hand in tracking a killer tigress, which has till now claimed 22 lives in as many months.
Calling themselves wildlife enthusiasts, the youths claimed having helped the Andhra Pradesh forest department in wildlife census and other activities. The youths apparently had character certificate issued by the divisional forest officer at Hyderabad.
Divisional forest officer of Bramhapuri division, Hrishikesh Ranjan, permitted the six youth to patrol the area ‘as AP forest official had vouched for their antecedents’, but a senior official revealed that they were turned away as their help was not needed. “They even offered to shoot the tigress, which we denied. For, only police and forest officials, and not civillians, are authorised to shoot the tigress,” the official added.
In fact, the character certificates furnished by the youth only adds mystery to their claims. Apparently when they approached AP Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife), Hitesh Malhotra, for the certificate, he directed them to his junior MJ Akbar, the divisional forest officer based in Hyderabad.
According to Akbar, the youth had approached him with a letter from Maharashtra forest officials recommending issual of the character certificate. “They were given the certificate as there were no criminal cases pending against them in AP,” said Akbar, who was not in the know about the firearms the youth had brought along to Talodhi.
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