Kalyansinghpur: Forest officials seized a leopard hide and arrested eight persons when the accused were negotiating to sell the hide at Rivalka na under Kalyansinghpur for est range in Rayagada district, officials said Saturday.
As per reports, while five of the accused are from Rayagada district, three others are from Kalahandi district. Officials also seized a motorcycle and mobile phones from the spot. The arrested persons were identified as Bharat Nachika of Kalyansinghpur, Simadri Tadin gi of Rayagada block, and Kailash Jani, Prashant Kadraka and Dharma Patika of Rivalkana.
The other accused are Jitendra Beni ya, EJ Rao Sahu and Munuga Majhi of Kalahandi district. According to Kalyansinghpur Ranger Sachidananda Parida, the forest department had received intelligence inputs about the deal two days ago.
Acting on the intelligence, teams from the Kalyansinghpur and Rayagada ranges conducted a joint raid under the supervision of Rayagada Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Sachin Annasaheb Ohol. Officials from the Kalahandi forest division assisted in identifying the suspects involved in the transaction.
Preliminary investigation revealed that the leopard was allegedly poached in a forest area located about 8 to 10 km from Bhawanipatna in Kalahandi district nearly two to four months ago. A suspected poacher from Kalahandi had earlier been arrested in connection with the killing.