Bhubaneswar: The Special Task Force Saturday seized a leopard skin and two pieces of tusk from Nayagarh district and arrested two wildlife criminals for their alleged involvement in the case.
The accused have been identified as Ramesh Pratihari from Chakragada area under Narasinghpur police limits in Cuttack district and Bimbadhar Tarei, a resident of Bethia Sahi under Gania police limits in Nayagarh district.
Acting on a tip-off, the STF team conducted a raid at a place near Maa Kalapata Mandir on Gania-Chamundia road on the bank of Mahanadi river in Nayagarh district.
Besides a leopard skin and tusks, the team also seized other incriminating materials from their possession.
Since the accused persons could not produce any valid documents in support of possessing leopard skin and elephant tusk, they were arrested.
In this connection, STF PS Case No.16 dated 24.04.2021 U/s. 379/411/120(B) IPC r/w. 51 of Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 was registered. The seized leopard skin and elephant tusk will be sent to Wild Life Institute of India, Dehradun for chemical examination.
A detailed investigation is underway, it was learnt.
Notably, a special drive against the wildlife criminals has been launched and during last year, the STF has seized as many as 13 leopard skins, nine elephant tusks, two deer skins, three live pangolins and pangolin scales weighing five kilograms and has arrested 27 wildlife criminals. As many as 15 cases have been registered against wildlife criminals.
Worth mentioning, the STF is the specialized wing of Odisha Police to curb the organised crime in the state. Wildlife crimes remain one of the focus areas of STF.
PNN