NDTV Exclusive: Mystery Deaths In Satpura Tiger Reserve, Letter Points To Lapses

The forests of Madhya Pradesh are reeling under a mystery. Barely two months after security guard Hariram was found dead under unexplained circumstances in the Barchpada beat of Satpura Tiger Reserve, the mutilated body of a tiger has now been recovered from the very same stretch of the Tawa River in Narmadapuram. The tiger's paw had been brutally hacked off and carried away by hunters, its carcass discovered floating near Badchapada village on Friday morning.

This chilling coincidence has cast a long shadow on the state's celebrated tiger haven, and an exclusive letter accessed by NDTV shows that even the forest department's top brass raised alarm over a string of unexplained tiger and leopard deaths. Adding to the cloud of suspicion are allegations of rampant illegal mining and tree felling in the Churna area, a thriving underbelly that experts say is threatening both wildlife and those tasked with protecting it.

Field Director Rakhi Nanda, who reached the spot soon after the discovery, confirmed that one paw of the tiger was missing while the other three were intact. The carcass was pulled out of the river and sent for a postmortem, but the brutality of the killing had already shaken the department.

This marks the second tiger death in the district in just 10 days, after another was found lifeless in the Madhai core area on August 12. That incident was brushed aside as a territorial conflict, but conservationists and locals insist Satpura's rich prey base rarely sparks fatal clashes. Instead, they believe an unchecked nexus of poaching, illegal mining and smuggling is bleeding the reserve dry.

The official narrative has only come under deeper scrutiny with NDTV accessing an exclusive letter written on August 20 by Madhya Pradesh's Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Forest Force Chief, VN Ambade, to all area directors and conservators. The letter candidly admits that 5-6 tigers and leopards have died in just 20-25 days in the state's reserves and forests. Mr Ambade concedes that despite claims of robust monitoring through M-strips and monsoon patrols, tigers are dying without the local staff even being aware, a damning sign, he warns, that the "security system is not strong." The letter calls the mishandling of a tiger's death in Balaghat "extremely shameful and a matter of regret" and bluntly directs that wildlife protection is the department's top priority, warning that future negligence will not be tolerated.

But the ground reality continues to mock these official assurances. With over 64 tigers estimated in Satpura and a force of more than 500 staff equipped with elephants, motorbikes, boats and foot patrols, questions are being raised over how hunters could so easily strike in a heavily guarded reserve.

Wildlife activist Ajay Dubey accuses the administration of turning a blind eye "Illegal mining, illegal felling is happening inside the forest... wrong things are happening, tigers are dying... despite the uproar, patrolling is not being done." Experts also recall a 2023 poaching incident in Churna when hunters decapitated a tiger and carried away its head, highlighting how the area has long been a soft target.

The sequence of deaths, a guard in June, a tiger in August, and multiple unexplained fatalities over the past two months has created an atmosphere of fear and suspicion. Officials persist with the line of "animal conflict," but conservationists point out that Satpura does not have a history of frequent tiger fights, precisely because of its abundant deer population. If this were merely conflict, they argue, carcasses would not be found mutilated.

Madhya Pradesh, which prides itself as India's "tiger state," now finds itself trapped in a contradiction. The state has posted the highest tiger numbers in the country, but it has also recorded the highest tiger death count this year, 36 so far. For wildlife lovers, the mutilated tiger on the banks of the Tawa River is more than just another statistic.