By IANS
Agra : A Nepalese citizen was recently arrested with a leopard skin at the Indo-Nepal border in Uttar Pradesh in a search carried out by the state’s forest department with assistance from an NGO.
Sumiran Raidas, a resident of Nepal’s Kapilvastu district, was arrested from a raw-leather market of Naugarh district earlier this week after the NGO Wildlife S.O.S provided information about his activities to the forest department officials.
Raidas had cleverly hidden the leopard skin inside a bundle of 100 buffalo skins in a bid to outwit the authorities, Vasudha Mehta, the public relations officer of Wildlife S.O.S, said here Sunday.
“I have constituted a committee consisting of senior wildlife officers to look into the matter and expedite the investigation process. We shall use every opportunity to curb wildlife crime in the state,” said D.N.S. Suman, the principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife), Uttar Pradesh.
Javed Akhtar, a top official who headed the team that arrested Raidas, said: “On interrogation, Raidas revealed that he was killing the animals both in India and Nepal but he kept the material in Nepal. The accused has confessed to selling over 30 skins to different traders in Lucknow, Kanpur, Hardoi and Delhi in 2007 alone.”
Kartick Satyanarayan, co-founder of the Wildlife S.O.S, said: “We are happy to provide assistance and information to the enforcement authorities. This kind of collaborative efforts will help us detect, prevent and control the roots of wildlife crime that is threatening India’s endangered wildlife.”