Post News Network
Bangiriposi, Dec 25: Forest officials Thursday morning seized three leopard hides and arrested eight persons. While two hides were seized and six persons arrested near Jyoti ITI, along with two bikes, the Rairangpur forest officials seized another skin from two persons near Dhungiadihi.
Acting on a tip-off, forest officials posed themselves as tiger- skin buyers and tried to strike a bargain of Rs 2 lakh with those culprits caught near the Jyoti ITI.
As per the plan, other forest officials were deployed there in plain clothes. As the hunters reached with the tiger skins, the officials pounced upon them and seized two leopard skins. Six persons were arrested. They were identified as Gopinath Singh, Hadibandhu Singh, Yual Munda, Sadhu Hembram, Mahendra Singh and Siba Charan Soren, a resident of Jharkhand. The first five persons arrested
are locals.
Forest officials suspect that they are part of an inter-state racket dealing in hides of wild animals.
In the other incident, Rairangpur forest officials arrested Bada Mohant and Ram Chandra Mohant near Dhunkiasahi and seized a leopard skin from their possession. Two bikes were also seized from them.
