5 held for killing a leopard, 5 others nabbed for smuggling wildlife in Chhattisgarh
On Sunday, five men were arrested for smuggling wildlife in Bastar division. The forest officials recovered 19 kg pangolin scales, four star tortoises and six leopard nails from their possession in four separate actions in the region.
Five people were arrested for allegedly killing a leopard and two others for trying to hunt a wild boar in a village in Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh, officials said on Monday.
Last Monday, the carcass of the 8-year-old leopard, with two nails missing and the teeth extracted was found near Bitkula village in Spiat-Sonthi forest range, Bilaspur Divisional Forest Officer Kumar Nishant said.
“It was suspected that poachers had killed it through electrocution. We arrested two people on Friday. Three others were held on Saturday. They are Phul Singh Yadav (70), Teejram Patel alias Bhakachand (58), Nandkumar Patel (50), Santosh Dhanuhar and Samaru Dhanuhar alias Sanjay,” he said.
“We recovered a leopard nail and two teeth from Nandkumar, who had wrapped it in a plastic bag and put it inside a 30-foot deep well. An axe, 10 arrows and a bow, electric wire, spade and other items used for poaching have been seized from the accused,” the official added.
On Sunday, five men were arrested for smuggling wildlife in Bastar division. The forest officials recovered 19 kg pangolin scales, four star tortoises and six leopard nails from their possession in four separate actions in the region.
On February 11, after receiving information that some people were trying to sell wild animal parts in Jagdalpur, the headquarter of Bastar district located around 300 km away from capital Raipur, a joint team of the forest department and police was dispatched to the location,” said Mohammad Shahid, Chief Conservator of Forest (Jagdalpur circle).
The team rounded up two suspects, who were carrying a bag and tried to escape on spotting forest and police personnel, he said.
“Pangolin scales, weighing 12 kg, were recovered from their bag following which the duo was arrested,” he said.
Based on information provided by the two, 6.9 kg of pangolin scales and six nails of leopards were recovered in two separate raids in Jagdalpur while four star tortoises were seized from Dantewada district of the region in another raid, the CCF said adding that one person was arrested in each of the three raids.