Man arrested for killing tiger in sanctuary

PANAJI: A man was arrested for allegedly entrapping and killing a tiger in February this year in Mhadei wild life sanctuary here, forest department officials said.

Gopal Majik, a resident of Keri village, 80 kms from here, was arrested yesterday, they said.

"We have not established offense against Majik. He is just a suspect because he has a history of laying traps to bar animals entering his cashew farm," a forest department official said.

Although none from the forest department was willing to come on record, the sources said that Majik was earlier arrested for laying bait and trapping a Sambar in the sanctuary.

A picture of a tiger carcass lying between two stones, usually found along the riverside, was published in the local newspaper, which forced the department to initiate a detailed probe.

The location of tiger death was zeroed in at Keri village.

The officials said that the big cat might have entered the sanctuary from neighbouring Karnataka. According to 2002 census report, Goa has five tigers.