Two wildlife traders arrested with leopard skin

Bhubaneswar: Odisha forest officials arrested two persons and seized a leopard skin from them, officials said on Thursday. The accused have been identified as Mukesh Manahira (31) of Bolangir and Dibya Sankar Bagarty (21) of Boudh.

Acting on a tip-off, a team of forest officials from Bolangir and Boudh forest divisions conducted a raid at Kotagaon in Bolangir district on Tuesday and arrested the duo, Bolangir Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Nitish Kumar said.

Following interrogation, a leopard skin was recovered from a haystack at Kantamal area in Boudh district, he said. A case has been registered against the two under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, he added.