Hyderabad: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Hyderabad Zone officials have cracked down on illegal wildlife trade. In raids conducted in the Nampally area on February 9, 2 tiger canine tusks and 7 tiger claws were seized and two accused were arrested.
The DRI officials approached the accused posing as buyers. They reached the spot after receiving information that the transactions were going to take place at Hotel Asian International, Room No. 305, Nampally and arrested the accused.
The seized wildlife remains and the accused were handed over to the Hyderabad Central Forest Range officer for further action. During interrogation, the accused confessed that they had obtained these wildlife remains from a person named Zakaria, a resident of Kerala. He was said to be a close friend of the two accused.
Central-I Section Deputy Forest Range Officer Andaki Sivaprasad conducted a panchnama on the incident and registered a case under POR No. 12-07/2022-23 (Date: 09-02-2026). Officials said that since the tiger (Panthera tigris) is a highly protected species under Schedule-I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, illegal possession and trade is considered a serious offence.
On February 10, the District Forest Officer questioned the accused and recorded their statements. Later, the accused were produced in court and the court issued orders imposing 15-day remand. While the complete information related to this case has been sent to the Kerala Forest Department, further investigation is underway to identify the source of the wildlife remains.
