A 70-year-old Uttarakhand ascetic has been arrested for possessing a leopard hide, used for offering prayers and delivering religious discourses, from the border district of Pithoragarh, forest officials said.
“An ascetic associated with a temple has been arrested for possessing a leopard’s hide. He had hidden it under the bed,” said Dinesh Joshi, ranger, Pithoragarh forest.
Joshi said forest officials and special operation group of police raided Kapelshwar Mahadev temple in Kafladi village, 6-km from Pithoragarh district headquarter, on Sunday, following a tip-off that the 70-year-old ascetic, Chandan Giri, regularly delivered religious discourses sitting on the hide of a tiger, a banned article under the wildlife act.
He was arrested for possessing a two-metres long leopard’s hide, which also had the skeleton of the animal’s head including its teeth. Generally, leopard hides are recovered headless, forest officials said.
The ascetic told officials that it was gifted to him by one of his disciples some months ago. He was booked under relevant sections of the Wildlife Protection Act and produced in the court from where he was sent to jail on Monday, said officials.
Joshi said that the hide appeared to be one-and-a half-years old. “The ascetic claimed that he used to deliver religious discourses sitting on the hide but it was recovered from under his bed, which suggests that the monk was up to something,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Joshi said that the hide appeared to be one-and-a half-years old. “The ascetic claimed that he used to deliver religious discourses sitting on the hide but it was recovered from under his bed, which suggests that the monk was up to something,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}On Saturday, a leopard’s hide and body parts of a bear were recovered from two persons in Khumti village in Dharchula area of Pithoragarh district. According to Balam Singh Alamiya, a forest ranger, Aan Singh and Trilok Singh were arrested with the hide and the bear’s body parts.