WCCB’s help sought in Bhandara poaching case as carcass of one more leopard found

NAGPUR: The tiger poaching racket exposed by Bhandara forest division officials is getting murkier with recovery of carcass of one more leopard, 3

deer

, and 3 wild boars.

Sources said the poaching scandal is so deep-rooted that Bhandara officials sought help of Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (

WCCB

).

“M Maranko, regional deputy director (west), WCCB, and an inspector have reached Bhandara to assist the investigating officials to prepare a watertight case,” said Bhandara deputy conservator of forests Vivek Hoshing.

With Thursday’s recovery, the total of number leopards that were poached has gone up to 2. On June 28, the officials had seized 22 tiger nails, two leopard nails, 7 antlers and raw and cooked meat of wild boars. Till now, 12 accused have been arrested including Vinod Natthuji Manmode, brother of prominent city builder Pramod Manmode.

Hoshing said, “We want to recover one more tiger nail from Manmode and will seek his forest custody remand (FCR). All accused will be produced in Tumsar court on Friday.”

The recovery of carcasses on Thursday with the help of a JCB indicate that there may be more animals buried. “Due to rains we could not recover more carcasses,” he said.

According to sources, a broken love affair of kingpin Maniram Gangboyar’s daughter with a youth from neighbouring

Madhya Pradesh

led to the expose of the scandal. The youth had eloped with daughter of the accused but with police help, Gangboyar managed to bring his daughter back home. Four days later, a tip off was given to forest officials about Maniram gang.