Dog solves lion murder mystery in Gir Somnath, three arrested

RAJKOT: With an aim to poach on poachers, the forest department will henceforth employ techniques generally used in the detection of human crimes. The novel attempt is based on the department's desire to end the illegal hunting of wild animals and also bring culprits to book.

To this end, officials have started using a sniffer dog specially trained for wildlife crime. Topsi, a canine stationed at Sakkarbaug zoo and getting trained with local zoo articles, had helped the forest officials significantly while establishing the killing of a lion in Gir Somnath district last month and also in the subsequent detection of the destruction of evidence by burning the carcass.
The forest department took the help of forensic experts and also scoured call detail records (CDRs) to track the accused who behaved normally after destroying all evidence after the dastardly act.
Canine Topsi provided key lead to help nab trio
The forest officials arrested Karshan Bambhaniya, Karshan Barad, Gopal Vanja, and Sunil Bambhaniya three days ago and sent the accused to judicial custody.
According to the offence, a lion was electrocuted after it got caught on live wires at a farm. To avoid legal action, the accused not only burnt the lion's carcass on nearby farmland but also cleaned up the place and put grass on it to avoid detection.
According to the case details, an informer apprised officials of Jamvala range on November 15 that a lion carcass was burnt by some villagers on the outskirts of Alidar village which falls in the revenue area of Kodinar taluka of Gir Somnath district.
The forest officers quickly scanned previous records on lion movement in that area and footprints, which they found ended in one farm. Officials also found traces of dragging along with the footprints of two human beings. But, even then it was difficult to establish that somebody killed a lion and buried the carcass.
In the meantime, the accused farmers of the particular farm went about normally pretending they had no inkling about any lion's movement there.
At this juncture, Topsi entered the investigation scene. The canine, specially trained to solve forest crime in Panchkula, led the forest team a few kilometres away from the spot on the farm where the lion was electrocuted and reached the spot where the carcass was burnt. For naked human eye, detection of that place was difficult as it was cleared and covered with grass.
Upon digging, officials found lion fur, but couldn't find any ash as the spot was thoroughly cleaned. With the lead that Topsi had provided, the forest team searched for ash and found it along with some bones at two places in another sugarcane farm.
The medullary index of the burnt fur confirmed that it was that of a lion.
The crime spot where the lion was suspected to have been electrocuted was cordoned and guards were stationed round the clock. The forest department also took the help of district administration and PGVCL to find the owners' names, but the land was encroached on, and the electricity connection was also found to be illegal.
There was, however, no standing crop on the land at the time.
The forest department, thereafter, checked the CDRs of the past three days in that area and found the movement of several suspects. Based on this info, the department zeroed in on the persons who had cultivated the land in the past.
Deputy conservator of forest Gir (west) Mohan Ram said "It was a difficult case to crack. The lion died of electrocution but the accused worked very smartly to dispose of the carcass. They dragged the huge body, burnt it to destroy all evidence, and then went about as if nothing happened. Interestingly, they did not even disappear so as not to raise any suspicion on them."
Ram also added that it was a high-level crime investigation that was rare in detecting wildlife crimes. "This investigation has set an example that no criminals will go scot-free even after destroying evidence. It was a team work comprising multiple agencies including our trackers and officers to the Junagadh forensic science team, the dog squad, PGVCL, and revenue department among others."