The Shimla police have recovered three leopard hides and arrested one person in Mandi town.
Police have registered a case under smuggling and the Wildlife Act. Besides skins, police have also seized wildlife contrabands including 14 leopard claws and 12 leopard teeth.
Police had raided a hotel following a tip-off from the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau. Police arrested a local who was produced in the court and remanded to police custody, said Mandi superintendent of police Shalini Agnihotri.
Police have registered a case and further investigation has been initiated. During the preliminary investigation, the person told police that he used poison-laced meatloaves to kill the leopards. There is a rise in the incidence of poaching and smuggling in Himachal Pradesh during the Covid-19 pandemic.
During the last two months, police have recovered six leopard skins, Himalayan Monal bird plumes, and Pangolin scales in Shimla, Solan, Chamba and Hamirpur districts, revealing this disturbing trend.