Baripada: Seven persons, including a schoolteacher, were taken into custody by forest department officials for their alleged involvement in smuggling of tiger skins and other wildlife parts in Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR) in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district on Tuesday.
Officials said three leopard hides were seized from their possession during a special operation conducted in various areas of the Kaptipada, Badasahi, Dukurah, and Khunta ranges.
The accused have been identified as Raisen Chapeyar (45), Shermashri Sooren (27), Champai Murmu (32), Amar Kumar Singh (40), Sunaram Hembram (59), Manaranjan Tipiria (48) and Guruprasad Patra (41)
The joint crackdown was carried out in Baripada forest division close to Similipal, by a team of field staff of Baripada, Similipal South and Balasore wildlife divisions after getting special intelligence about the poaching activity.
During initial investigation, it came to the fore that leopard skins were being kept at the homes of the accused for worship, with the belief that it would bring them wealth, a senior official said.
The tiger skins were sourced from Chhattisgarh, and the skins are believed to be old. Further investigation is underway, and more arrests are expected in the coming days.