The main accused had bought it in belief that it will cure his ailments
The main accused had bought it in belief that it will cure his ailments |
| Nabbed: The accused were arrested from The Grand Castle on Ramanashree road. They were produced before the court, and have been remanded to judicial custody |
Posing as buyers, officials from the Forest Department have arrested four persons for trying to sell of a tiger pelt, worth Rs 1 lakh. Ramachandraiah (55) and Narasimha Murthy (48) from Magadi, M Babu (43) and Arif alias Mastan (33) of Hegganahalli, were arrested by the Bangalore Rural Forest officials on recently, while trying to sell the pelt.
According to the Forest officials the main accused, Ramachandraiah, claims that he purchased the pelt, which is 1.11 metres long and 0.65 meters wide from an unidentified man for Rs 30,000.
In his statement, Ramachandraiah said that he was suffering from leg pain and swelling. When he went to a masseur, a person there advised him to buy the pelt, and asked him to perform a pooja while sitting on it, to get rid of his ailments.
A source from the Forest Department said, "We got information that a gang was trying to sell the pelt near The Grand Castle on Ramanashree road (Palace Grounds). Our team posed as buyers and arrested the gang with the pelt in their possession."
Another official said, "Ramachandraiah was aware that buying or selling wildlife articles is illegal, and decided to dispose it, and had come to Bangalore to sell it off."
The accused were produced before the court on September 24, and have been remanded to judicial custody until October 8.
