The Tamil Nadu Forest Department has arrested a farmer for poisoning a tiger to death in the Nilgiris district. The farmer, identified as Shekhar, rears cows and goats. The department discovered the bodies of two tigers, aged three and eight, near the Avalanche dam in Nilgiris on Saturday, September 9.

The forest department commenced a probe and conducted a post-mortem of the deceased tigers. It was found that one of the tigers died due to pesticide poison while the second had died due to a fight with another tiger.

The Forest Department officials were led to Shekar after discovering the carcass of a cow alongside the dead tigers. The Nilgiris forest division then constituted a team of 20 forest personnel to probe the deaths and questioned the owner of the cow. Shekar reportedly confessed to having poisoned the cow carcass after it was killed by a tiger while out grazing. He was arrested and later remanded to judicial custody.