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Uttarakhand: Nepalese man held with body parts of leopards
A Nepalese national was arrested with skins and parts of three leopards in Pithoragarh district on Friday.
A Nepalese national was arrested with skins and parts of three leopards in Pithoragarh district on Friday.
A joint team of the Special Operation Group (SOG) police, forest officials and Delhi-based Wildlife Protection Society of India arrested Kashi Ram, a native of Anchal Mahakali in Nepal, who admitted to have killed big cats in Nepal. He was smuggling the parts via Kali River that divides Indo-Nepal border.
The accused was bringing the animal parts worth Rs 8 lakh from Nepal for sale in the district.
SOG in-charge Shishupal Rana told Hindustan Times: “We have presented the accused before the chief judicial magistrate court. He is in police custody for 14 now.” The skins of one male and two female leopards are about four months old.
On January 26, four people were arrested with seven leopard skins along with nails, four bones and skull in Kotdwar, Pauri. The seizure from Kotdwar was the biggest since state formation. The same day, a skin was seized from Dehradun.
Over 70 leopard deaths, 10 this year, were reported in the last two years.
