Tiger poacher Kuttu sent to 4-day custody

NAGPUR: Tiger poacher Kuttu alias Rahul Gulabsingh Gondthakur was presented in the court by Bhandara police on Saturday. Lakhandur JMFC has granted police custody remand (PCR) of four days.
Bhandara SP Vinita Sahu informed that Kuttu will be kept in custody till December 21.
Kuttu, who fled from custody on January 21 from Dighori near Sakoli, was nabbed in Lakhimpur-Kheri, bordering Nepal, in a joint operation by Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) and Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) in the first week of December.After his arrest, Kuttu had created scenes when produced in a Kheri court following which he was granted judicial custody and admitted in a Lucknow hospital, making Bhandara police return empty-handed. Following this, the forest department had dispatched three teams to bring the dreaded poacher back on production warrant.
Kuttu was dramatically arrested on March 3, 2015 by a team of CBI and Melghat forest officials from Biruhali in Katni (MP). He was directly involved in skinning and deboning tigers in Paoni range of Bhandara. The Kuttu gang operated in entire Navegaon-Nagzira Tiger Reserve (NNTR) landscape and killed several tigers in forest areas of Gondia, Tumsar, Sakoli and Bhandara.
Kuttu’s escape had stirred up a storm and state home ministry under chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had sought a detailed report on the issue from the wildlife wing officials. Earlier, police had searched for Kuttu in Odisha, MP, Chhattisgarh and Kolkata.