After a political tug of war on poaching, Rajasthan government has permitted Central Bureau of Investigation to probe the disappearance of tigers in the Sariska sanctuary since October last year.
The CBI will probe five cases lodged between 1991 and 2005 on missing tigers and possible international links of poachers, state minister for forest and wildlife L N Dave said on Wednesday.
The permission was communicated early this week to the CBI on the request of the Union ministry of environment and forests of May 9, he said.
Meanwhile, Pradesh Congress Committee's chief spokesman Chandrashekhar Baid said the Raje government, which had denied receiving the Union ministry's letter asking permission, had to "bow down" now because his party had raised the issue.
Four cases were registered in the Sariska Tiger Reserve in Alwar, and one FIR registered at the Kamla Market police station, New Delhi, the minister said.
Five persons were arrested for possessing tiger skin a couple of months ago in Alwar after the CBI's preliminary inquiry in the Sariska reserve, he said.
In pursuance of the findings of the preliminary CBI probe conducted in March, the Union government after the Prime Minister's visit, had sought permission from the state government to undertake an elaborate probe into the nexus of criminal gangs in tiger poaching, he said.
