Kannada Big Boss 10 contestant Varthur Santosh arrested; here's why

The forest department arrested Big Boss Kannada contestant Varthur Santosh on Sunday for wearing a tiger claw locket, as possessing a tiger’s nails is against the law. An FIR was filed against him after he was seen wearing the locket during the show, which finally led to his arrest by the forest officials.

The forest department reached Bigg Boss house late evening yesterday (October 22) and asked the show organiser to bring the chain worn by Santosh to conduct a thorough inspection. After a detailed examination of the chain, the officials confirmed that they were genuine tiger claws and asked the organisers of Bigg Boss to hand over the Santosh to them.

After a few hours, Varthur Santosh left the Bigg Boss house and was taken into custody by the forest department.

Ravindra Kumar, Deputy Conservator of Forest, told India Today, "It was a public complaint after he was seen wearing tiger claws. After the complaint, we went to inspect it in the Bigg Boss studio near Komaghatta and requested the authorities to hand over the locket. After dilly-dallying for some time, they agreed to hand it over to us."

"I inspected the golden pendant through proper procedure so we could find out if it was a genuine tiger claw. We further instructed the Bigg Boss authorities to produce him before us. I inquired him about it, and he said that he got it in Hosur three years ago. After he agreed in front of the camera, we arrested him at around 8:30 pm. This is a violation of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972. Tigers are considered a highly endangered species. It attracts a maximum punishment of three to seven years of punishment,” he added.

The forest range office of Kaggalipura has taken Santosh under their custody.

Santosh is the chairman of Hallikar Cattle Breed or All India Hallikar Breed Conservation Committee and, also popularly known as Hallikar Odeya. He came to the limelight after starting an initiative to take care of the Hallikar breed of cattle.

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