Bigg Boss Kannada contestant Varthur Santhosh arrested

Team Udayavani, Oct 23, 2023, 2:13 PM IST

Varthur Santosh, a contestant of Bigg Boss Kannada Season 10, was arrested by the forest department officials for wearing a tiger claw pendant.

In India, possession of tiger nails is against the law. One cannot sell or purchase tiger claws.

Santhosh was seen wearing the locket during the show. An FIR was filed based on this, which led the forest officials to his arrest.

The forest department reached Bigg Boss house late last evening (October 22) and asked the officials to bring the chain outside from the contestant to conduct an examination. After the examination, the officials confirmed that they were genuine tiger claws. They then asked the organisers of Bigg Boss to hand over the contestant to them.

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

He further added, “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.”

Varthur Santosh rose to fame by rearing the Hallikar breed of cattle. Popularly known as Hallikar Odeya, he is the chairman of Hallikar Cattle Breed or All India Hallikar Breed Conservation Committee.