By P Naveen, TNN | Dec 27, 2012, 04.25 AM IST

BHOPAL: Poachers killed yet another tiger - third in the last 30 days- with an electric trap at a territorial forest area in Katni district late night on Tuesday. This incident has come as a shock to the Madhya Pradesh government that is aiming to retrieve its 'tiger state' status next year.

It is learnt that the carcass of the tiger was found close to an agricultural land in Jugia village near Vijayraghogarh forest range (compartment No 448- Amadi beat) on Wednesday afternoon, said forest officers.

The tiger got killed on the intervening night of December 25-26 after it stepped on a live 50 metre GI-wire from the 11KV service line pegged to a wooden pole. The spot is at 60 km away from the Bandhavgarh National Park.

The villager, who allegedly laid the trap, is said to be absconding.

"It seems trap was laid for wild-boars, but the tiger got killed," divisional forest officer (DFO), Katni, M K Khan, told TOI over phone. The tiger, around 9 feet long, suffered a major shock and died on the spot after it got in contact with the live wire.

The carcass has been preserved in a deep freezer. Post-mortem would be conducted as per National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) protocol on Thursday, said the DFO.

Meanwhile, the forest officials raided several houses in the locality looking for the person who reportedly laid the trap, but to no avail.

Movement of this fully grown tiger was being reported from this area for the last four days, said wildlife activists in the region. The routine patrolling, near the electric lines, was not being done by the forest officials, they claimed.

Earlier, a tiger had fallen into a similar electric trap and got killed on December 7. Its partly decomposed and skinned carcass was found in the forest area of Umaria, approximately 25 kilometres away from Bandhavgarh tiger reserve on December 11. The main accused is still at large. More tigers were electrocuted in the Khitauli range of the Katni District and Kathotia forest area close to the state capital.

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