Bhubaneswar: Odisha forest officials have arrested two persons and seized leopard skin from them, officials said Thursday.
The accused have been identified as Mukesh Manahira (31) from Balangir and Dibya Sankar Bagarty (21) from Boudh, they said.
Acting on a tip-off, a team of forest officials from Bolangir and Boudh forest divisions conducted a raid at Kotagaon in Bolangir district January 9 and arrested the duo, Bolangir divisional forest officer (DFO) Nitish Kumar said.
Following interrogation, a leopard skin was recovered from a haystack at Kantamal area in Boudh district, he said.
A case has been registered against the two under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, he added.
PTI