Tiger skull seized, three poachers held

Three poachers were arrested here and a tiger skull, bones and other body parts weighing 20 kg seized from them, police said Sunday.

The poachers claimed that they brought the tiger bones from an area near Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand.

Surajpal, 65, were arrested Saturday from north Delhi's Adarsh Nagar area and Naresh, 32, and Suraj Bhan, 28, were apprehended from Kashmere Gate area Friday, police said.

A tiger skull, bones, nails and teeth have been seized from their possession, police said.

The accused said they purchased the bones from a herdsman, who is a resident of Uttar Pradesh's Nagina area that is in the foothills close to Uttarakhand.

Additional Commissioner of Police Ravindra Yadav said Surajpal ran a very big network of illegal sale and supply of wildlife items across the country.

Naresh and Suraj Bhan were working on his instructions for the past several years, he said.

During questioning, the poachers said they poisoned tigers by using domestic animals as bait and then sold off the wild cat's body parts, police said.

Suraj Bhan said he had procured six tiger skins and body parts for Surajpal from Nagpur in Maharashtra, police said.

Surajpal had given Rs.20 lakh to Sarju as an advance for the deal, police said.