BERHAMPUR: Dealing a blow to illegal trade in wildlife articles, forest officials seized two leopard skins and arrested six persons in Gajapati district in the last two days.
The breakthrough came during two separate raids conducted by special teams of the Paralakhemundi forest division led by ACF Shine Shree Dash.
In the first operation, forest personnel seized a leopard skin near the new bus stand in Paralakhemundi around 10 am on Thursday and apprehended two persons allegedly involved in dealing in wildlife articles. The accused are Gorila Rabi (40) of Hadubhangi village and Prafulla Ghanta (42) of Parida in Kashinagar area of the district.
In the second raid on Friday, the forest team seized another leopard skin near Tulasinagar village under Paniganda section of Mohana range around 11.30 am. Four persons were arrested for allegedly dealing in wildlife articles. They are Jaga Mallick (36), Bijaya Nanda Nayak (23) and Deepak Kumar Nayak (25), all from Kandhamal district besides Trilochana Patra (35) of Adava in Gajapati.
Forest officials said the four accused were taken into custody for production in court. Further investigation is underway to establish the source of the leopard skins and determine whether the accused were linked to a wider wildlife trafficking network.