BHUBANESWAR: The Special Task Force (STF) of Crime Branch arrested a wildlife criminal in Kalahandi district and seized three leopard hides and as many deer skin from him. Acting on a tip-off, STF conducted a raid on State Highway - 6A near Sripally within Madanpur Rampur police limits on Friday evening and nabbed 56-year-old Khageswar Putel of Pujiladu village in Kalahandi district.
The agency has registered a case in this connection under sections 120B, 379 and 411 of IPC and section 51 of Wildlife (Protection) Act. STF will send the seized hides to Wildlife Institute of India (WII) in Dehradun for examination.
STF’s initial investigation suggests Putel is a trader and had procured the hides directly from a poacher. “Verification to ascertain whether Putel has criminal antecedents is continuing. We have also identified the poacher having links with the accused, but is yet to be traced,” said a STF officer.
Sources said the poacher from whom Putel procured the hides is possibly hiding deep in the forests and the region is affected by Naxals due to which the STF officers could not move ahead. No pellet wound was noticed on the seized hides and how the animals were killed can be ascertained only after reports from WII are received, said sources.
STF officers suspect the animals were possibly poached in the forests between the tri-junction of Kalahandi, Kandhamal and Rayagada districts. The agency will also coordinate with the Forest department as part of investigation into the case.