Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi suspected of poaching

The residence of Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, in a posh south Delhi locality, was raided by police on Tuesday and one of the two vehicles - a blue Maruti Gypsy - employed in the alleged poaching of an endangered black buck last week was seized.

A First Information Report was registered against Pataudi and seven others on Monday, and the authorities had asked them to report to Jhajjar police for investigation. The deadline has been extended to 5pm on June 10, failing which they could be arrested.

Pataudi, the former Indian cricket captain, finds himself facing arrest after the carcass of the endangered species of antelope was found in the boot of his car. Pataudi, who captained India in 40 of his 46 Tests, was one of eight people held by police in the north Indian state of Haryana.

According to the Press Trust of India, he had been charged under sections 9, 39 and 51 of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972, after a rare black buck, and two rabbits, were found during a routine police check in Jhajjar on Friday night.

Police sources added that two guns, 50 cartridges and two search lights had also been recovered. If found guilty of the offence, Pataudi, 64, could face up to seven years in prison.

Nicknamed "Tiger", Pataudi was born into a Muslim royal family in Madhya Pradesh in 1941, and was appointed as India's captain at the age of 21. He scored 2793 runs in a 13-year Test career, although that tally might have been significantly greater had he not suffered near-blindness in his right eye, after a car accident while at Oxford University.