Team of three to probe missing tiger Jai's case

While authorities are still clueless about the fate of Jai, one of the biggest tigers of central India, senior officials from the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) have arrived in Nagpur to probe the case

Jai was last sighted in April

While authorities are still clueless about the fate of Jai, one of the biggest tigers of central India, senior officials from the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) have arrived in Nagpur to probe the case. The three-member team will interact with forest officials for leads on the big cat who has been untraceable due to the failure of his radio collar, which was fitted by Wildlife Institute of India experts. The team will also visit the Umred Karhandla Wildlife Sanctuary and the Pauni area where the 260-kg tiger was last seen.

PS Somashekhar, Inspector-General of NTCA, who led the team, confirmed the development. "Our team in Nagpur has already started the investigations," he said. The two other members, who are part of the investigation team, include Kamal Datta, joint director, Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) and Qamar Quresh, scientist at the Wildlife Institute of India (WII).

The team was formed after BJP MP Nana Patole from Bhandara Gondai raised the issue in the Parliament claiming that the tiger might have been poached. He also said he would write to Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the same. Sources from the forest department said that the team would also interact with forest guards, senior forest department officials and researchers who have been monitoring Jai's movements. Villagers, who claimed to have spotted the tiger last year, will also be probed. Following the three-day visit, the team will submit a formal report to NTCA.

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