Kamal Ghorui
Raipur: A contract to kill a tiger, poison flowing through forest streams, and a cross-border network moving quietly under the canopy — the script had all the making of a calculated wildlife hit. Inside Chhattisgarh’s Udanti-Sitanadi tiger reserve, poachers from neighbouring Odisha had set the stage for a deadly strike, targeting the big cat not by chance, but by proper planning.What they did not anticipate was that the forest department was already tracking their every move. Acting on a precise intelligence input, anti-poaching teams moved ahead of the plot, setting up camps along the Odisha border, watching suspect trails and waiting for the operation to surface.Days later, that wait paid off. Seven accused were picked up, six of them caught red-handed while allegedly lacing a forest stream with poison — a method capable of wiping out entire chains of wildlife, not just a single tiger.The conspiracy, investigators say, went beyond traditional hunting. A “supari” for a tiger skin had allegedly been issued, local operatives activated, and a plan drawn up to contaminate shared water sources before finishing the kill using bows and arrows — a chilling blend of primitive tools and organised crime logic.“The first clue came almost incidentally, the detention of an elderly man Raman Herna, who was caught with deer antlers. During interrogation, he revealed the larger conspiracy — naming handlers and detailing a plan to poison water sources frequented by tigers and elephants, before finishing the hunt using bows and arrows. What followed was a rapid unravelling of a network that led teams deep into Odisha’s Katfad and Kusumkhunta villages, and back into the forests where the final act was already underway,” said Varun Jain, deputy director of Udanti Sitanadi tiger reserve.On May 10, six more accused were caught red-handed near Ranibarjhola nullah inside the reserve, allegedly lacing the stream with toxic substances. Officials recovered poison vials, along with dead fish and crabs — evidence of a method designed to wipe out wildlife at shared watering points.All seven accused — identified as residents of Katfad village in Nuapada district — have been produced before a court in Rajim and remanded to 14 days of judicial custody. Investigators believe more members of the network are still at large.“This was a planned operation targeting apex wildlife. The intent was not incidental hunting but a coordinated kill using poisoning — one of the most dangerous methods in forest ecosystems,” an officer said.High alert has been sounded across the reserve, thermal drones are scanning dense patches, and patrols have intensified along the inter-state border amid fears that more players are still out there.The forest officials said though the tiger, for now, survives, but the episode underscores a darker shift — wildlife crime is no longer just about opportunistic poaching; it is organised, commissioned, and increasingly invisible until it is almost too late.Under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, poaching or conspiracy to hunt a tiger can invite up to seven years’ imprisonment along with fines. Officials said further arrests are likely as the probe deepens.
