Bhubaneswar: A day after apprehending a poacher and recovering a skin of a Royal Bengal Tiger (RBT), the Special Task Force (STF) of Odisha police on Thursday arrested the main wildlife criminal involved in the crime who was absconding.
Acting on intelligence inputs, a team of STF and forest officials of Baripada forest division conducted a joint raid and apprehended the main accused, identified as Fagu Prasad Hansda alias Fagu of Udala in Mayurbhanj district.
In this case, a RBT skin and other incriminating materials were recovered from the possession of Dev Kumar Patra, who was arrested on December 14, STF said in a release.
Stating that Fagu was the main accused in the case, it said he had procured the tiger skin and during raid he was absconded from the spot.
Further investigation is underway. The accused was earlier involved in another case during 2020-21 relating to illegal transportation of 8 elephant tusks.
