Balrampur: Two smugglers were arrested with leopard and bear skins from Ramanujganj in Chhattisgarh on Saturday. According to the forest team the smugglers near Paltan Ghat of Ramanujganj Forest Range were intercepted when they were loitering in the area.
Acting on a tip-off, a team of foreign officials team surrounded and caught both the smugglers. Bikes and scooters have also been recovered from them. The accused have been caught smuggling ivory in Wadrafnagar Range.
Wildlife Flying Squad officials said one of the two smugglers has been identified as Anil Kumar who claimed himself as a resident of Babhani in Uttar Pradesh. The name of the second accused is Rambachan who is a resident of Purandih. Two leopards and one bear skin have been recovered from the arrested smugglers. Action is being taken against the accused under sections 2,9,50 and 51 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
Santosh Pandey, SDO, Forest, “On Saturday evening, the state-level flying squad team and wildlife crime control team received information about two smugglers. The joint team reached Paltan Ghat quickly and the accused were caught. They were taken into custody. The investigation is going on,” Pandey said.
According to him, due to the dense forest in Ramanujganj, a large number of wild animals live there. “This area is known to be smugglers den as they are active in the area. The forest department team keeps patrolling continuously,” he added.
