Panaji, Sep 17 - After initially claiming that a 'preliminary' forensic report had ruled out poaching of a tiger in a Goa wildlife sanctuary, the state's top forest official has now said that he has not seen the forensic report yet.

Chief Conservator of Forests (CCF) Shashi Kumar now maintains that he had made the statement only on the basis of a letter faxed to him by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII).

'We have not received the report yet. I have only received a letter from the Dehradun-based institute (WII) stating that the samples sent to them do not belong to a tiger. My statement was based on the letter I had received from the WII last week,' Kumar told reporters in his Panaji office Thursday morning.

He added that the forest department would wait for the detailed forensic report from the WII before taking a final decision on the investigation.

The latest development adds another twist to the tiger poaching controversy in Goa, which has simply refused to die after a tiger was allegedly snared and shot dead by poachers at the Mhadei wildlife sanctuary in North Goa.

Kumar said that the WII's findings were made on the basis of blood stain samples found on the leaves near the place, where the tiger's carcass was butchered and burnt by the poachers in order to cover their tracks in the Mhadei wildlife sanctuary.