Union forest min lauds Nagarahole foresters for nabbing poachers

Mysuru: Nagarahole Tiger Reserve (NTR) officials and staff, who had arrested five poachers on charges of hunting a tiger recently, were on Monday appreciated by Prakash Javadeker, minister for environment, forests and climate change.
Expressing his appreciation with a thumbs-up gesture, Javadeker tweeted: “well done, forest staff and officers of Nagarahole Tiger Reserve for nabbing all the culprits responsible for poaching the tiger, in such a quick time (sic).”
Even the authorities at National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) tweeted: “Kudos to the efforts and perseverance of forest staff and officers of Nagarahole Tiger Reserve, culprits responsible for poaching the tiger, brought to book (sic).”
NTR director D Mahesh Kumar told TOI that receiving appreciation from the top is indeed a morale-booster. “Besides motivating us, the gesture has prompted us to be more committed to duty and also work harder to protect wildlife. The appreciation from the higher-ups is for the entire forest department team which was involved in arresting the poachers,” he said, adding that the team members will be rewarded soon.
On August 26, the carcass of a five-year-old tiger was found near Tattekere Haadi in Kallahalla range in NTR. During post-mortem, bullet wounds were found on the carcass, and this made the foresters understand that the big cat was shot by poachers.
Treating the case seriously, the foresters summoned sniffer dog Rana (a German Shepherd) to trace the culprits, and the effort paid off with the latter tracking the houses of the culprits. Between August 26 and September 3, the foresters arrested M M Santhosh of Nittur village (Tattekere haadi), Khandera Shashi alias Shashikumar K S of Sulugodu village, K P Uttappa alias Khandera Sharanu of Sulugodu, Vattangada Ranju alias Biddhappa H B of Nittur and Kudhenakodi K S Raju alias Gopala of Nittur.
From the accused, the foresters recovered 13 claws of tiger, two canines, 1.5kg meat, two two-wheelers, one double-barrel gun, some cartridges, a knife and other items used in the crime.