25 tribal arrested for selling fake lion parts

AHMEDABAD: About 25 tribals have been arrested from the outskirts of Gir forest in Junagadh district in Gujarat for selling fake lion parts, forest department officials said today.

"We arrested 25 tribal people who originally belong to Shimoga in Karnataka after they were found selling fake lion claws in Kodinar town of the Junagadh district," Deputy conservator of forest Ramesh Katara said.

"We have also found bones, jaws, claws and horns of animals like dogs and cows from them. It seems that the tribals were also trying to sell those as lion bones," Katara said.

The accused from a tribe called Pahadi Rajput, who have been camping on the outskirts of Kodinar taluka for the last one month, were held yesterday, the official further said.

"We have send the items recovered from them for forensic examination," he said.

The arrested comprise 10 men, 10 women and five children. "During interrogation we have found that this people have made it their business to sale fake body parts of the lions and other endangered animals," Katara said.

In 2007, eight lions were poached in and around Gir forest by a tribal gang from Madhya Pradesh's Katni area as their bones, claws and skin fetches huge prices in the international market.