Modi holds meet with Gir officials over lion deaths

Junagadh, Apr 6 (UNI) Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi today held a meeting with top officials of the Gir Sanctuary which has witnessed the deaths of sixteen lions over the past three months.

As many as eight Asiatic lions were allegedly killed by poachers, during the last one month itself.

Mr Modi reached Babaria region in Gir Sanctuary and was immediately closetted in a meeting with the forest officials. The Chief Minister was accompanied by Gujarat Forest Minister Mangubhai Patel, Forensic Science Laboratory director Jayant Vyas, South Saurashtra Range IGP K Mohan Jha, and Forest Department Principal Secretary P N Roy Chowdhury.

Mr Modi will halt at Sasan Gir for the night and is scheduled to visit several other places tomorrow from where lion poaching have been reported.

Meanwhile, the police today raided the Gayatri Temple near Una village and found some claws of certain wild animals. However, it is yet to be ascertained whether these belong to lions.

The police have detained an aged couple from Panna in Madhya Pradesh and six others from Dhari village in Amreli district for questioning.

Earlier, on Thursday, District Forest Officer (DFO) B A Shukla was transferred from Junagadh to Gandhinagar and B P Patti replaced him, apparently to facilitate a Central probe into the lion poaching cases.

UNI