How he caught poachers by looking at nails

BENGALURU: A forest official, who had succeeded in nabbing a gang of interstate poachers on the basis of the dirt under their nails, was felicitated by cricketer Rahul Dravid on Friday.
The forest guard, Yogaraj J, is currently working at the Lakkavalli range of Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary. He is known for the crackdown against criminal gangs that operate in forest areas. He was conferred the Vanyajeevi Seva Prashasti 2018 here by the Cricketers for Wildlife Conservation.

Yogaraj was part of the team that had nabbed seven pangolin poachers in 2014, a case that ended in conviction of the accused.

He had caught a poacher red-handed with pangolins in Lakkavalli forest and rushed to the nearby Tarikere railway station with two of his colleagues to stop other gang members from escaping.

"We reached the railway station at 10pm and spotted a person sitting on the bench in a suspicious manner. We were in plain cloths and he was not able to identify us. We sat next to him and noticed dirt under his nails and waited for confirmation that he was a poacher."

Yogaraj added: "The beedi brand that he was smoking gave away his identity; it was the same one used by a poacher we'd caught earlier. However, it was only after we nabbed him that we realised he was the gang leader." The incident led to more arrests subsequently.

Forest officials said the poachers used to sell pangolins at Rs 5,000-10,000.

- Mrinalini S Bhat