Leopard skin seized from poachers

The Times of India , Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Correspondent : Samrat Phadnis
KOLHAPUR: Police in Sangli have recovered a leopard skin from Pralhad Shinde (19), a Nashik resident, and booked him, along with seven members of a poaching gang arrested in Sangli over the past five days.

The police had seized two tiger skins from the gang and were expecting to recover more animal parts from them.

Vijay Shetke, Amit Patil, Santosh Shinde, Sanjay Dudhal, Basavraj Rajput, Nikhil Patil and Mehboob Attar, all from Sangli, were arrested in a combing operation by the Sangli police last week. "We got a tip-off from the arrested members of the gang about Pralhad Shinde and knew that he was in possession of a leopard skin. He was trying to get a customer to sell the skin. A police team was sent to Shinde's hometown, Vanasgaon in Lasalgaon in Nashik district and the leopard skin was found in a raid on his residence," said Sangli district superintendent of police Dilip Sawant. All the accused have been sent to police custody till March 20.

The police estimate the value of the three recovered skins to be Rs 30 lakh. "We have informed the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) of New Delhi and the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) in Mumbai about the incident. Officers of both the institutes will be joining the investigations on Wednesday," said N Mohan Karnat, the chief conservator of forests (wildlife), Kolhapur division.

Karnat added that the skins will be sent to the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun to decide the age and cause of death of a particular animal and the approximate date of death.

The Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI) has expressed strong concerns over the evidence of two tigers being killed. WPSI experts confirmed that the skins are genuine. "We have seen the photographs of the skins and according to our observations, these skins are not morphed. This is a very serious issue that two tiger skins and one leopard skin was seized from a single gang," Nitin Desai, director, WPSI, central India, told TOI.

The police are investigating whether these animals were poached in this part of the Western Ghats or at any other places. The police are also trying to find out if arrested people are part of larger gang.

Kolhapur deputy superintendent of police Kavita Nerkar, who is leading the investigations, said that all the accused were between 19-30 years of age. "They are young and were operating from Sangli. Prima facie, they seem to be dealers trying to sell these animal skins. We are investigating the details of poaching and other members involved," Nerkar said.

"We are investigating all possible angles, including the involvement of an international racket who could be poaching in the region with the help of local youth," Sawant said.

"I am concerned about the way the gang evolved in Sangli. According to reports, the members of the gang are in the age group of 18 to 30 years. If such young people are starting to get involved in poaching and tiger killing, how we are going to protect our wildlife? This is a very alarming issue," Desai said.

With the skins being recovered, the Kolhapur wildlife department has alerted its machinery on rampant poaching in the area. Almost 60% of the area of the Chandoli Wildlife Sanctuary, part of the Sahyadri Tiger Reserve, lies in Sangli, while 40% is in Kolhapur district. There had been reports of tiger sightings in the Sahyadri ranges in the recent national tiger census. Tigers were also spotted in Radhanagari and Koyna forests.

"We have alerted our officials and are providing expertise to the police department. At the moment, we we cannot say anything about the location of the poached animals. We can only talk about this once we receive reports from the Dehradun institute," Karnat said.

 
SOURCE : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/City/Kolhapur/Leopard-skin-seized-from-poachers/articleshow/32256515.cms
 


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