Ahmedabad:
Foresters heaved a major sigh of relief on Wednesday claiming that the material of animal body parts in five bags, seized from the Karnataka tribals in Kodinar, Gir West, is "fake".
Even as the material has been given to the Forensic Science Laboratory, Gandhinagar for examination, forest officials in Gir in know of the developments in a turnaround of sorts said they were almost sure that the material was fake soon after they seized it on Monday, but did not declare it as they might not have got further custody of the tribals. The 25 people apprehended in Kodinar were presented before the court on Tuesday night and the forest department was granted custody for two days.
"The material is fake. We are interrogating what they were doing in Gujarat selling fake body parts," principal chief conservator of forest, Pradip Khanna asserted on Wednesday.
Sources said foresters are now even dilly-dallying on the origin of the tribals themselves, claiming at one point that they were perhaps from Tamil Nadu. However, officials maintained that investigations were underway to figure out why they were here.
"We are still interrogating why they were selling fake lion body parts in Gir. Our understanding is that the increasing tourist flow in Gir has attracted them here," a forest official said, adding that after showing the bones, claws and hair recovered from the bag to local wildlife experts, it was evident that they could be of any animal. "The claws seem to be made of buffalo horns," he said.
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Even as the material has been given to the Forensic Science Laboratory, Gandhinagar for examination, forest officials in Gir in know of the developments in a turnaround of sorts said they were almost sure that the material was fake soon after they seized it on Monday, but did not declare it as they might not have got further custody of the tribals. The 25 people apprehended in Kodinar were presented before the court on Tuesday night and the forest department was granted custody for two days.
"The material is fake. We are interrogating what they were doing in Gujarat selling fake body parts," principal chief conservator of forest, Pradip Khanna asserted on Wednesday.
Sources said foresters are now even dilly-dallying on the origin of the tribals themselves, claiming at one point that they were perhaps from Tamil Nadu. However, officials maintained that investigations were underway to figure out why they were here.
"We are still interrogating why they were selling fake lion body parts in Gir. Our understanding is that the increasing tourist flow in Gir has attracted them here," a forest official said, adding that after showing the bones, claws and hair recovered from the bag to local wildlife experts, it was evident that they could be of any animal. "The claws seem to be made of buffalo horns," he said.
Copyright restricted. Under license from www.3dsyndication.com
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