Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Forest department has arrested seven poachers, including OISF personnel, and seized leopard skin from their possession in Bhubaneswar on Sunday.
According to a senior Forest department official, they arrested seven persons, including a member of the Odisha Industrial Security Force (OISF), during a special operation in the Tamando area on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar.
Acting on a tip-off, Forest department personnel launched a special operation to arrest the wildlife criminals while they were finalising a deal to sell the leopard hide to smugglers.
One of the Forest staff posed as a buyer of the leopard skin and contacted the smugglers. Unaware of the sting operation, the smugglers moved on with the deal at their pre-decided spot – Baliapada village field in Kashipur Mauja under Tamando police station limits.
The leopard was reportedly been hunted in Boudh before the deal, worth Rs 10 lakhs, was planned in Bhubaneswar.
The city forest officials have recovered five mobile phones, tiger moustache, tiger teeth and tiger nails.
