Three men arrested for killing bear in Chhattisgarh

Three persons were arrested on Monday for allegedly killing a bear in the Udanti Sitanadi Tiger Reserve in Chhattisgarh's Gariaband district, a forest department official said.

Gariaband Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Mayank Agrawal said after the arrest, the alleged poachers, identified only as Chaitram, Mohan and Pyarelal, all aged 50, were produced before a local court which sent them in 14-day judicial custody.

Chaitram and Mohan hail from Amdi village, while Pyarelal is a resident of Jaitpuri village in the district, he said.

A carcass of bear, aged one-and-a-half years to two years, was found on Sunday night in Amdi village under the Joba forest circle, the DFO said.

Many body parts of the wild animal were found missing, Agrawal said.

During a search in the area, forest department personnel along with a dog squad zeroed in on two houses in Amdi and Jaitpuri villages, the officer added.

They detained the three suspects who on questioning confessed to their involvement in killing the protected animal, and later placed them under arrest, he said.

The trio told the forest department officials they hit on the head of the bear, resulting in its death, and then cut the animal's paws, teeth and private parts with an axe for their use in black magic practices, Agrawal said.

Last week, a leopard was found dead in the Udanti Sitanadi Tiger Reserve and its teeth and paws were also missing.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)