Bhubaneswar: Forest department officials arrested three poachers on charges of killing a leopard before cooking and consuming its meat under the Rairakhol forest range of Sambalpur district on Monday night.
According to sources, the officials raided the forest near Hiraloi village when the poachers were reportedly busy cooking the leopard meat after killing the wild animal.
Forest officials caught three of them and seized the leopard’s skin and head from their possession. Besides, the team also seized cooked and raw meat, as well as a foreign-made rifle and bullets.
The Rairakhol DFO has launched an investigation into the incident and is probing the incident from all angles. The arrested poachers will be grilled to gather more information about their involvement in wildlife crime, said sources.
