Sacked Delhi Police constable held for killing of 10 leopards in Kuno National Park

BHOPAL: In a big breakthrough in the probe into killing of 10 leopards in the Kuno-Chambal landscape, the Madhya Pradesh State Tiger Strike Force (STSF) has arrested a dismissed Delhi Police constable suspected to be a key link in an interstate poaching and smuggling network. The investigation has now widened to examine the alleged role of a major wildlife conservation NGO, with sources saying investigators are trying to ascertain whether the killings were carried out under a possible ‘contractual poaching’ arrangement. Dismissed constable Bhagwan Singh alias Salim, a resident of Bijwasan in southwest Delhi, was arrested in the national capital Tuesday by a joint team of STSF and Wildlife Crime Control Bureau. He will be produced before a special court in Shivpuri, where STSF is expected to seek forest remand for his detailed interrogation. The arrest followed the seizure of 10 leopard skins in Agra on July 23, with the investigation leading officers to the Kuno-Chambal forests in MP. STSF teams subsequently arrested eight suspects and recovered leopard body parts, skeletons and three specialised leg-hold traps from Sheopur and Morena districts. The eight suspects are currently in jail. The possible role of the NGO is among the lines of inquiry being examined, according to sources. The probe will attempt to find out whether the organisation had any direct or indirect connection with the suspected poaching network and, if so, what its motive was. --------------- Australian cricketers’ molester turns accused in 12-yr-old murder Indore: A man, who was arrested for allegedly stalking and molesting two Australian women cricketers in Indore last year, has now emerged as one of the accused in a 12-year-old murder case, reports Karishma Kotwal. Grappling with a murder mystery for the better part of 12 years, the police finally saw some light after one of the accused in the case allegedly boasted to a group, which, unbeknownst to him, included a police informer, that he had killed a teenager in 2015 and got away with it. His boast led the police to Aqeel Khan, the accused in the alleged harassment and molestation of the Australian cricketers during last year’s Women’s World Cup. Khajrana police on Wednesday arrested Aqeel Khan (30), who had been out on bail in the molestation case, in connection with the murder of 17-year-old Krishna.