Guj: Five more held in poaching racket in Junagadh

Days after busting a poachingring involved in trapping animals in and around Gir forest,the Gujarat forest department has nabbed five more suspectedpoachers who had earlier killed a lion cub, an official saidon Friday.

Preliminary probe has revealed that one of theaccused, a resident of Dungarpur village of Junagadh, hadallegedly trapped and killed a lion cub some years ago using asnare he had purchased from another accused, deputyconservator of forest, Junagadh, SK Berwal said.

According to another official, four other suspectedpoachers have been nabbed from different parts of the regionunder relevant sections of the Wildlife Protection Act.

The five accused have been remanded to a five-daycustody of forest department, the official said.

''We had apprehended several suspected poachers a weekago and learnt that they had purchased snares from a person.

After his arrest, the snare maker admitted to have sold snaresto some others, including the man from Dungarpur,'' Berwal saidwithout revealing more details.

At least 38 suspected poachers were arrested by theforest department on February 3 after a lion cub was foundtrapped in a snare on the outskirts of Prachi village of Gir-Somnath district.

It was revealed that the accused used to hunt smalleranimals such as jackals and rabbits whose body parts are usedto make traditional medicines, usually sold in roadside tents.

PTI COR PJTARU ARU