Madhya Pradesh: Tribal man questioned in tiger beheading case kills self

Even as the Madhya Pradesh forest department remains empty-handed regarding culprits involved in the beheading of a tiger in the core area of Satpura Tiger Reserve (STR), another gory turn came in the case as a tribal man who was picked up for questioning by forest team killed self by hanging on Sunday.

The body of Aneesh Uikey (36), a resident of Dhansai village in Sarni of Betul district bordering the Churna range of STR, was found in an agricultural field in the village on Sunday morning. Aneesh, along with three others of the village had been picked up by STR and Tiger Strike Force (TSF) team on Saturday evening for questioning in the tiger beheading case but released the same night. 

All four picked for questioning were known to be traditional sorcerers/healers and Aneesh also worked as a gypsy driver in the STR off and on.

The STR officials and TSF are working on the line that local black magic/traditional healing practitioners might be involved in beheading of the tiger, though they have yet to get any lead in this direction. The forest department has also announced a reward of Rs 25,000 for any information on culprits in the case, sources said. The STR and TSF teams, with the help of local police, have been questioning people in the bordering villages of STR in Narmadapuram, Betul and Chhindwara districts.

Deceased under pressure?

The uncle of the deceased, Kamal Uikey told THE WEEK that he suspected that Aneesh felt pressured because of the questioning as there was no other reason for him killing himself. 

“Aneesh was with me on Saturday evening when he got a call from some people in the forest department. Since he had worked as a driver in the forest and knew forest officials, I did not pay much attention to it. I only got to know the next morning that his body had been found in a farm in the village. I was told that he and three others from the village were taken for questioning by forest officials in the tiger beheading case but had returned home on Saturday night,” Uikey said.

He added that Aneesh was a self-made man and very positive in outlook. “He was in some debt, but was not much bothered about it. Rather he always counseled others including me to be positive in life. He had recently purchased a bullock worth Rs 70,000 by selling his Jeep. His father had died when he was very young and he was close to me and discussed things with me. He never hinted about any financial or domestic trouble. Also, he has not left any note. He might have felt pressured after the questioning to take such a big step,” Uikey said. He added that police were yet to take his statement, though he was the one to summon police and sign the panchnama (local witness) documents.

Sub-divisional office of police (SDOP) of Sarni (Betul) in-charge Roshan Jain said that while initial postmortem report had confirmed suicide (ante-mortem hanging), a probe was still on regarding the cause of the suicide as no suicide note was recovered. 

“We are waiting for the three-day long death related rituals to be over before we take detailed statements of all involved. However, the forest department has confirmed that Aneesh was picked up for general questioning in the beheading case the evening before his death, but was let go the same night. We are also helping the forest department in investigation related to the tiger beheading in Churna range and so are the police in the districts bordering the STR. A case of unnatural death has been registered in Aneesh’s case and we will be probing all the possible angles,” the officer said.

Earlier, Madhya Pradesh principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife) J.S. Chauhan had told THE WEEK that based on prima facie evidence it seemed that the tiger death was natural, after which it was beheaded probably by some local tribal people involved in black magic/traditional healing practices. He said that these practitioners use tiger heads in rituals promising rain of money.

The beheading of the tiger is being looked upon with worry because the incident occurred in the core area of STR, which should be under intensive watch and patrol. Alleging negligence and other irregularities, wildlife activist Ajay Dubey has asked Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to remove field director of STR L. Krishnamoorthy and PCCF (wildlife) Chauhan and order a CBI probe into the incident.

Dubey has also demanded a judicial probe into the death of the tribal man.

Meanwhile, the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) of the ministry of environment, forests and climate change has issued a country-wide red alert on the threat of poaching in and around tiger reserves, prioritizing the name of STR.