A team of forest officials visited the home of Karnataka Minister of Women and Child Development Lakshmi Hebbalkar to check if Mrinal Hebbalkar, her son, has been wearing tiger claw pendants.
Mrinal Hebbalkar handed over the pendant in question to the officers. Shankar Kallolikar, deputy conservator of forests, said that the pendant was being sent to the forensic science laboratory to confirm if it came from a real tiger.
Ms. Hebbalkar, however, denied that her son had ever worn a tiger claw. “It is a plastic pendant. He does not wear real claws. We are vegetarians. We do not like any animal being killed either for sport or culling or for jewellery,’‘ she told journalists.
