TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The police of Langkat District, North Sumatra, have arrested three poachers on charges of hunting a Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae) in Kutagajah Village of Kutambaru Sub-district.
"The three suspects are being questioned intensively," Chief of Langkat Police Adjunct Senior Commissioner Mulya Hakim Solichin stated here on Wednesday.
The three suspects identified as PA alias Dedi (25), HT alias Hendra (25), and DS or Deden (28) were the residents of Bungaran Hamlet of Ujung Bandar Village of Bahorok Sub-district.
The Langkat Police and personnel of the Mount Leuser National Park Authority arrested them on Tuesday evening along with some evidence comprising a dried tiger skin, a plastic bag containing tiger bones, and two motorcycles.
The local authority had earlier received a tip-off from a local resident that someone was interested in selling tiger skin and bones in the Sogong Hamlet of Kuta Gajah Village in Kutambaru Sub-district.
The tiger skin and bones were valued at Rp42 million (roughly US$3,000).
The local police deployed its personnel to investigate the report and arrested the suspects and took them to the Langkat Police Office for further investigation.
The three suspects are charged with violating the law on nature and ecosystem conservation and face a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a maximum fine of Rp100 million.
ANTARA
