Kesinga: In a major crackdown, a joint team of forest officials from Odisha and Chhattisgarh busted an inter-state wild animal body parts smuggling racket following a surprise raid in Kalahandi district, an official informed Saturday.
The joint team, comprising M Rampur forest ranger Asit Kumar Das and officials of Chhattisgarh Forest Department, conducted a raid in Kalahandi district Friday afternoon leading to the arrests and seizure. Four persons were arrested in this connection; three tiger hides and a tooth were seized from their possession.
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According to a senior official, the team got information from a reliable source that smugglers were carrying the tiger hides. Swinging into action, they stopped a motorcycle at Palam area and seized three tiger hides and a tooth from the vehicle after a thorough search.
The four arrested smugglers were identified as Manoj Behera from M Rampur, Narottam Bhoi from Narla, Rangacharan Bhoi from Bafla and Kartik Rana from Amath areas, the forest official added.
The four inter-state wildlife smugglers were active mainly in Odisha, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal.
PNN