Forest Teams Suspect Poaching Network in Leopard Killing; Trail Leads to Farmhouse in Indore

A three-member committee constituted by the Indore Forest Division is conducting a parallel inquiry alongside the State Tiger Strike Force (STSF). Officials recovered a clutch-wire snare from a farm roughly 500 metres from the farmhouse identified by the dog squad. While the farm owner claimed the trap was meant to block wild boars, officers noted that the snare and the leopard’s injuries were consistent with targeted poaching.

The carcass, found in a roadside pit near Garhi on Saturday evening, had its front paws severed, nails removed and canines cut with a mechanical tool. The post-mortem concluded that the leopard died of severe haemorrhage caused by a tightened snare. However, the dump site showed no signs of a struggle, leading investigators to believe the animal was killed elsewhere and moved to mislead the search teams.

Several individuals, including the farmhouse owner and adjacent landholders, were questioned through the day. Officials said their statements conflicted with evidence recovered from the fields and structures examined. Teams also seized multiple items for forensic review and expanded the search radius to nearly three kilometres.

Sources indicate that hunters linked to wild boar poaching around Dewas and Karanavat may have operated in the area recently. Unusual late-night movement reported by villagers has further strengthened this angle. Investigators have requested tower location logs and call detail records from telecom operators to trace phone activity in Double Chowki, Garhi and adjoining zones during the suspected time of the kill.

With the mutilation pattern confirming deliberate poaching, authorities are now focused on locating the original kill site, identifying the network behind the crime and tracking the missing body parts believed to be destined for the illegal wildlife trade.