Keonjhar: In a major crackdown, three smugglers of wildlife body parts were arrested in Keonjhar, Sunday.
Acting on a tip-off Sunday, a team of the Special Task Force (STF) of Crime Branch conducted a raid near the RTO Office in Keonjhar district.
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The STF team foiled a bid of sale of two elephant tusks and a leopard skin by the wildlife poachers. Three persons namely Sheikh Hasmat Ali and Chandrakant Dhal, both of Karanjia area in Mayurbhanj district, and Malaya Kumar Rout of Janghira area in Keonjhar district were apprehended in the afternoon.
The team also recovered other incriminating instruments from their possession during the search. The three accused could not produce any valid document in support of possessing such body parts.
The accused have been forwarded to court. STF PS case No.-06, dated 07.02.2021 U/s 379/411 of IPC and r/w.-51 of Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 was registered in this connection.
The seized elephant tusks and leopard skin will be sent to the Wild Life Institute of India, Dehradun for chemical examination. A detailed investigation of the case is underway, an STF official expressed.
PNN
