Nagpur, May 7 (PTI) The carcass of a tiger was Tuesday found in a pit in the Pench Reserve in neighbouring Madhya Pradesh after three people arrested on Sunday by the Nagpur Forest department gave a tip-off, a senior official said.

The carcass of the tiger was found near Kumbhpani village in the Pench Tiger Reserve, a statement from the MP reserve's field director stated.

Three people, identified as Ramdas Bhangu Chavhan, Tarasingh Shivprasad Rathore and Bhikamsingh Jeetsingh Rathod were arrested on Sunday from near a temple in Ramtek in Nagpur for allegedly smuggling tiger parts, an official said.

"They informed us that a tiger had been buried in a pit in Pench Tiger Reserve after which we contacted authorities there," he said.

According to the statement from the Pench Tiger Reserve, the tiger carcass suggests that it might have been hunted as part of black magic rituals prevalent among several tribal communities living in and around the forests there.

The Pench statement added that the carcass was an old one and further probe was underway.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)