NUAPADA: Forest officials on Saturday arrested three persons and recovered a live pangolin with scales weighing over 2 kg from their possession, under Sinapali forest range in the district.
The arrested accused have been identified as Dinesh Majhi (43) and Trupan Majhi (62)of village Nangalbod within Sinapali police limits besides Yudisthir Danta (40) of district Gariabandh in Chhattisgarh state.
The live pangolin weighed 12.3 kg and the scales seized were of 2.7 kg. This apart, the team also seized two-wheelers of the two accused besides three mobile phones from their possession.
According to reports, on Thursday, acting on a tip-off regarding the deal of live pangolin in Nangalbod village, a team was formed at the direction of a divisional forest officer.
The team led by range officer Sinapali, Murari Prasad Panda, along with another team of STF, Chhattisgarh conducted a joint raid at the spot in Nangalbod village. At around 8 pm, the two main accused Dinesh and Trupan arrived at the spot for the deal and were nabbed by teams.
During interrogation, the accused revealed the names of three other persons who were supposed to receive the pangolin from them. While two of the accused identified as Dularsingh Chinda of Koptiam hamlet of Patdarah village and Anupsingh Mundi of Sunamundi village are still on the run, the Chhattisgarh STF on Saturday nabbed the other accused Yudisthir Danta.
The range officer said, “The three accused have been booked under relevant sections of the Widllife (Protection) Act, 1972 and were produced before the JMFC court, Sinapali on Saturday.”