BHUBANESWAR: THE Special Task Force (STF) of the Crime Branch has arrested two persons for allegedly smuggling a leopard skin in Khurda district.Acting on a tip-off on Thursday night, the STF officers conducted a raid at Bolagarh and nabbed Sudhira Behera and Subash Chandra Behera of Nayagarh district when they were attempting to sell the skin.
They were arrested under Sections 379, 411, 120B of IPC and Section 51 of Wild Life (Protection) Act. The seized leopard skin will be sent to the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) in Dehradun for examination, said STF DIG Jai Narayan Pankaj.During preliminary interrogation, Sudhira told the officers about his involvement in poaching the big cat from the forests bordering Khurda and Nayagarh districts. Pellet wounds have also been found on the leopard skin.
In a special drive launched against the wildlife criminals/poachers, STF has seized 12 leopard skins, six elephant tusks, two deer hides, two live pangolins and 5 kg pangolin scales in the last one year and registered 13 cases besides, apprehending 24 persons. STF officials suspect that of the leopard skins seized within this period, two of the animals each were poached from Daspalla and Ranpur, one each from Bargarh, Sonepur and Mayurbhanj.
“Poachers are mostly killing the big cats using guns, snare traps, digging pits or electrocuting them. Our investigation in the past has revealed that they lay live wire traps in a radius of about five to 10 km to electrocute and kill the animals,” said a STF officer.
In another development, the agency has launched a dedicated number - 9439263646 - through which people can share information with the STF about wildlife crimes and criminals. “Names of the informers will not be revealed. In case of seizure/arrest based on the information provided by an individual, he/she will be suitably rewarded,” the STF officer added.