By IANS,
Guwahati : A leopard skin has been seized near the famed Manas Tiger Reserve in Assam and one person has been arrested, an official said Thursday.
The skin was seized on April 3 in Bhogpur Ghat on the eastern boundary of the reserve.
“One of the two people carrying the skin in a sack has been arrested, while the other one managed to escape. They were on bicycles,” said Adhan Oza, range officer of the Bhuyanpara forest range, told IANS on phone.
“The arrested person could be a member of a poaching network. We are investigating,” Oza said.
The accused, a resident of Bor gaon (village), near the reserve, told officials that he had been paid Rs.2,000 to transport the skin to another location.
He was produced before a court the following day which sent him to Barpeta district jail.
Manas Tiger Reserve, spread across more than 2,000 sq km, is home to tigers, wild buffaloes, deer, rhinos, wild boar and leopards, among other animals.