Two tiger cubs brutally killed, mother missing and a forest on edge in Uttarakhand

On the surface, it looks like any other quiet, lazy summer afternoon in the Sajanpur Beat of the Shyampur Range. The Haridwar forest seems completely still under the hot sun. But once you step inside, the air is thick with tension. Deep in the woods, forest guards whisper anxiously to one another as they scan the ground for fresh pugmarks. Nearby, a team with sniffer dogs moves through the bushes, trying to catch a scent, while a tracking team quickly downloads data from camera traps, hoping for a single glimpse of her stripes. Read Full Story Suddenly, the sharp static of a walkie-talkie breaks the silence. An official's voice comes through, tense and urgent “Kuch mila? (Did you find anything?)" The clock is ticking fast, and with every passing minute, the heavy silence turns into deep worry. The mother tigress, whose two sub-adult cubs were brutally killed by a group of poachers here in the Shyampur Range of Uttarakhand, is still missing. The forest department is now racing against two completely different, terrifying outcomes. IS SHE ALREADY DEAD? It was on May 18-19 when a horrifying wildlife crime sent shockwaves through the Uttarakhand Forest Department. The carcasses of two tiger siblings, a male and a female, were found near a seasonal drain in the Sajanpur Beat. Their paws had been severed. Investigations revealed that they were poisoned through a dead buffalo, the very kill their mother had hunted for them. Three full days have passed, and the mother is yet to be found. The forest department is dealing with a highly traumatised, hyper-aggressive animal. (Photo: Getty) Did the tigress also consume a smaller, non-lethal dose of the poison and crawl into some hidden ravine to die slowly? Or is she out there, alive but weak? The search teams aren't just looking for a living predator anymore, they are racing to find a potential third carcass before international smuggling syndicates spot her first. THE PSYCHOLOGICAL TIME BOMB Tragically, officials have confirmed that these two cubs were the only offspring the tigress had in this specific litter, meaning her entire lineage from this cycle has been completely wiped out. If she has survived or escaped the poison and is currently scanning her territory to find her sub-adult cubs, the forest department is dealing with a highly traumatised, hyper-aggressive animal. The Shyampur Range is a fragmented buffer zone. Illegal deras (settlements) and local villages sit barely a kilometre from the crime scene. A heavily stressed mother tiger wandering around the edges of local villages is a direct threat to human life. She is currently a ticking psychological time bomb for anyone stepping out into those fields. THE CRACKDOWN ON THE ACCUSED Meanwhile, reporting from Haridwar by colleague Mudit Aggarwal confirms that the main accused, Aamir Hamza alias Miyan, who had been on the run for the last three days, has submitted an application to surrender in the Court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate due to continuous pressure from the authorities. On the night of May 21, a forest department team raided the forest area. Despite being surrounded, the accused managed to escape by taking advantage of the thick jungle cover, narrowly evading arrest. Following this, continuous raids were conducted at various suspected hideouts, and his close associates were questioned intensely. Additionally, forest officials held meetings with local Van Gujjar community leaders and social workers, urging them to convince the accused to cooperate with the legal process. As a result of this non-stop crackdown and mounting pressure, the accused finally moved to surrender before the court. Due to negligence in this matter, the Forest Ranger and Forest Daroga (Section Officer) have also been issued notices demanding official explanations. Given the seriousness of the incident, Uttarakhand Forest Minister Subodh Uniyal inspected the crime scene on Thursday. He ordered strict action against everyone involved in the crime and directed officials to launch an awareness campaign for the Van Gujjar community. Ends