Bhubaneswar: The Rayagada forest department, in collaboration with the Director of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) in Mumbai, has successfully apprehended four persons involved in the smuggling of two leopard skins from the Kolnara area of Rayagada district.
According to sources, the accused persons including two from Rayagada district and two from Maharashtra were caught while attempting to sell the leopard skins. The skins were allegedly being transported from Gajapati district to Maharashtra for sale.
The accused have been identified as Jisay Gamang and Mahesh Huika of Gunpur block and two others from Machhakhunti area. They had planned to sell the skins to Prabhakar Nayak and Raj Kumar Gupta from Matinagar in Maharashtra.
The DRI had received information about the smuggling operation and tracked the accused.
On August 30, the DRI informed the Rayagada forest department, and both agencies jointly apprehended the accused during the sale of the leopard skins.
The seized leopard skins are estimated to be from animals aged 5-7 years. All the accused persons have been forwarded to court, and an investigation is underway.
The forest department is further probing the source of the skins and the smuggling network.
