BHOPAL: The body of a tribal youth, detained for interrogation in connection with a case of tiger poaching in Madhya Pradesh's Betul, was found hanging from a tree, police said on Monday.
The deceased, identified as Anish Uike, a resident of Chopna village in Betul, was among five suspects who were interrogated on Saturday. They all were released on Sunday.
Uike was found dead hanging from a tree in a field located a few metres away from his home.
Chandrapal Dhurve, in-charge of Chopna police station, said all five suspects, who were detained for interrogation, were released on Sunday.
On June 25, a decomposed and headless body of an adult tiger was found in the Dabra Dev area of Churna forest range, around two km from the Satpura Tiger Reserve (STR) buffer.
Since then, the Tiger Strike Force and STR team were searching of the suspected killers.
A senior forest official associated with the STR told IANS that search were being conducted in Chhindwara and Betul districts.
During the search, five suspects were detained for questioning, and the deceased (Uike) was one of them.
"Prima facie, it seems a suicide case, however, nothing can be said until the postmortem report reveals the exact case of death. Statements of family persons and locals are being recorded. Our investigation is underway," Dhurve said.
Meanwhile, the Madhya Pradesh Forest Department has announced a reward of Rs. 25000 for information leading to the arrest of the tiger poachers.
The Union Forest Ministry has also taken cognizance of the matter and has issued guidelines for each tiger reserve in Madhya Pradesh.
This year so far, (January 1 to June 30) a total of 26 tiger deaths were reported in Madhya Pradesh.