Inter-State wildlife smuggling racket busted in Odisha; 5 leopard skin seized, 7 arrested
Mohana: In a major breakthrough, the Odisha forest department has busted an inter-State wildlife smuggling racket and arrested seven members of the gang.
Informing about the arrest of the wildlife criminals, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) Wildlife, Susanta Nanda said, “Based on credible information, the DFOs of different divisions conducted raids in their respective areas and seized a total of five leopard skins, one leopard cat skin, one fishing cat skin and 30 kgs of pangolin scales have been seized.”
“As many as seven people including six middlemen and one poacher have been arrested and forwarded to court in Gajapati district,” he added.
The PCCF also said that further investigation is underway to get more details about the racket and link of others in the racket.
The forest officials also have seized five mobile phones from the possession of the arrested person.
Inter-State wildlife smuggling racket busted in #Odisha; 5 leopard skin with huge quantities of pangolin scales seized, 7 arrested; PCCF Susanta Nanda pic.twitter.com/tomciovIHn
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Ms Kalinga