9 leopard and a tiger skin seized in Odisha’s Kalahandi district

All the six accused nabbed were middlemen apprehended by the joint team that posed as customers of the animal skins to lure them out.

Published on: Jul 11, 2021, 09:50:36 IST

By Debabrata Mohanty

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Eight leopard skins and a tiger skin were seized and seven wildlife smugglers were arrested in Kalahandi by a joint team from Wildlife Crime Control Bureau and forest officials of Odisha and Chhattisgarh on Saturday.

Kalahandi (North) district forest officer (DFO) Nitish Kumar said interrogation was on to find the interstate poaching and trading link. (HT Photo?Representative use)

Chief wildlife warden Shashi Paul said the seizures included a tiger and a leopard skin from M Rampur area and two leopard hides from the Junagarh area of the district. He said a massive inter-state racket may be at work as five tiger skins have been seized from the bordering areas in Chhattisgarh in the last six months and all the accused were from Odisha’s Kalahandi district.

Paul said the seized tiger skin was being examined and if required, it will be sent to the Centre for Wildlife Health at OUAT or forensic lab of Wildlife Institute of India at Dehradun for confirmation.

He said all the six accused nabbed in this connection were middlemen apprehended by the joint team that posed as customers of the animal skins to lure them out. Kalahandi (North) district forest officer (DFO) Nitish Kumar said interrogation was on to find the interstate poaching and trading link.

In April, the Special Task Force of the Crime Investigation Department (CID) seized one leopard skin and two elephant ivory from two persons in Nayagarh district. The same month, the STF arrested a wildlife smuggler and seized a leopard skin in Boudh district. In February, STF seized a leopard hide, while in March they seized a leopard skin and arrested two smugglers in Barkot area of Deogarh district.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Debabrata Mohanty
Debabrata Mohanty is a senior assistant editor of Hindustan Times who works as state correspondent from Odisha covering the state's politics, governance, public policy, natural disasters, environment and its society for close to three decades. With his long years of reporting from the state capital of Bhubaneswar, Mohanty has been known as one of the most experienced and credible journalists covering Odisha for the national English dailies. His reporting combines on-ground detail with deep institutional knowledge detailing the state's changing politics, governance issues, administrative reforms and the functioning of its public institutions. He has regularly reported on issues ranging from legislative developments and public policy implementation. Politics is his core areas of expertise as he closely tracks Odisha's political landscape, including the rise and transformation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the two principal political parties in Odisha. His long association with the state's political establishment enables him to write on contemporary developments in a larger political context. Mohanty takes a deep interest in writing human interest stories, environmental issues and documenting the impact of cyclones, floods, heatwaves, and other climate-related events in one of the most disaster-prone states. His coverage extends to public health, governance reforms and stories on accountability of government institutions. Before joining Hindustan Times, Mohanty worked with The Indian Express, Mail Today, and The Telegraph, where he covered at least six general elections and as many assembly elections. In 2007, he was selected for the prestigious Chevening Young Indian Print Journalist Programme at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom, where he received advanced training in print journalism. In 2009 he won the Press Institute of India-International Committee of Red Cross award on conflict reporting for his on-ground reportage of 2008 Kandhamal riots.Read More