Gunupur/Gudari: Forest officials seized a leopard skin during a raid near Karnapadu in Naira section under Gunupur-Gudari forest range in Rayagada district Friday and arrested four people in this connection.
Three motorcycles and four mobile phones were also seized, officials said. Acting on intelligence that a group was planning to sell a leopard hide, forest officials laid a trap and conducted a raid to apprehend those involved in the alleged wildlife trafficking operation.
On the instructions of the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), personnel from the Gunupur and Gudari forest ranges carried out the operation in the presence of Assistant Conservators of Forests (ACFs) Sachidananda Sethi and Satish Kumar Dharua.
A temple priest was allegedly trying to flee with the leopard skin when forest personnel intercepted and apprehended him. Three other suspects were subsequently detained, questioned and arrested. The arrested persons have been identified as temple priest Gaurishankar Rana of Derigaon panchayat in Padmapur block, Sriram Patra of Padmapur, whose native place is Sheragada in Ganjam district, retired teacher Philip Bidika of Padmapur block, and Maren Mallik of Padasahi in Tajungia, Kandhamala district.
The seized leopard skin measures 107 cm in width and 250 cm in length, ACF Sethi said. The Forest Department has launched an investigation to establish the geographical origin of the leopard and determine where it was killed.
Officials are also probing the suspected poaching and illegal wildlife trade network to identify other people involved.
