Two people with a tiger skin and 8.3 kg bones were arrested in Banbasa of Champawat district on Sunday.
The accused, hailing from Uttar Pradesh, had killed the tiger in Dhudwa National Park eight months back, and now they were on their way to selling them to a buyer in Khatima (Uttarakhand), when the forest department and police arrested them in a joint operation.
According to officials, the accused, identified as Raju and Mahaveer, were nabbed near Indo-Nepal border.
Babu Lal, sub divisional officer of Khatima range, said, “We had tip-off that two smugglers are entering this side from Nepal. Since it was the border area, we took help of Champawat police. They had killed a tiger by poisoning and had been waiting for a good deal. Finally they struck a deal at Khatima with a someone from Delhi.”
According to the SDO, the tiger was eight years old and the smuggled skin is 2.48 metre in length. Further interrogation is on and the report is yet to be filed.