AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat police have taken 18 Asiatic male lions into custody for the murder of three people in the state.
The lions will each have their paw prints taken and their feces tested as officials try to figure out which of the 'suspects' in custody is guilty.
And once it is established who the culprit is, he will be sent to a zoo for his entire life while the others will be released back in the Gir sanctuary.
The lions had been "arrested" over the past two months and were now being held in separate cages while tests were carried out, reported BBC.
"We think we have pinpointed the guilty lion, but we are still awaiting the results of nine more animals,"
BBC quoted Gujarat top forest officer as saying.
Supreme Court had ruled that Gujarat needed to relocate some of its lions to other states.
The need for relocating the big cats from Gir was felt because environmentalists and wildlife conservations feared that an epidemic or natural calamity could wipe out the species if it is concentrated in a single forest.
However the state has expressed reluctance and has not yet complied with the order.
