are the poachers back in gir forest?

06-04-2009
are the poachers back in gir forest?
DNA By jumana shah & kintu pushpa gadhvi. Ahmedbad
http://epaper.dnaindia.com/dnaahmedabad/epapermain.aspx?queryed=5&username=&useremailid=&parenteditioncode=5&eddate=4%2f6%2f2009
maldharis locate some suspects in gir, but forest officials deny such development

Poachers seem to be on the prowl again in gir. maldharis, residing in eastern gir, have reported suspicious activities and movement of people in the sanctuary. four days ago, the maldharis of dhandha nel had reported movement of people in the forest.

According to the maldharis, the people who were spotted in the forest spoke hindi. the maldharis immediately informed the beat guard and officials of paniya range
meanwhile, the gir nature youth club, which came to know of the incident, also informed forest conservator mm sharma about the development.

the forest conservator has already launched a search operation in the paniya range.
sharma told dna that the forest department is on guard."all water holes in the forest have been put under the scanner. the sarpanchs of 11 villages that surround the forest have been asked to be on the look out for any suspicious movement," said sharma, adding that, "so far, we have not found anything that could point out the presence of poachers in gir."
amit jethwa, president of gir nature youth club, said the club members had also told maldharis of gir to report any suspicious movements in the forest.

In 2001, forest department nabbed members of the katni gang who were involved in poaching in the gir. the gang members were nabbed from patla village of dhari taluka and dedkadi village near sasan. in may 2003, poachers from madhya pradesh were arrested from jambudi railway station near satadhar. in may 2004, some poachers were caught with skin of a lion. in the same year, some poachers were caught with a lion they had trapped. In 2007, some members of the katni gang of baheliya district reportedly killed a lion in the sanctuary.