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The Gajapati Forest Division has arrested six persons and seized three leopard skins in two coordinated operations conducted over two days as part of a crackdown on suspected wildlife trafficking, forest officials said.
Addressing a press conference on Saturday, officials said a special enforcement team was constituted under the leadership of Assistant Conservator of Forests (ACF) Shine Sree Das. The team comprised Range Officers of Devagiri and Mohana, the Regional Tiger Force (RTF), foresters, forest guards and wildlife protection squads. Acting on credible intelligence received on October 7 about a suspected wildlife trade deal involving Parlakhemundi and Mohana, the team conducted its first raid on the morning of October 8 near the new bus stand in Parlakhemundi town. During the operation, two persons, identified as G Rabi (40), a resident of Hadubhangi village under Kasinagar police station, and Prafula Ghanta (42), a resident of Parida village, were arrested. Two leopard skins, a motorcycle and two mobile phones were seized from them. An offence report was registered under the Wildlife Protection Act in the Devagiri Forest Range, officials said. Following leads obtained during the initial interrogation, the special enforcement team conducted a second operation on Saturday morning in the Paniganda section under the Mohana forest range, leading to the arrest of four more persons, as per the official. The accused were identified as Joga Mallick (36), a resident of Tiarigaon under Brahmanigada police station in Kandhamal district; Bijayananda Naik (23) and Deepak Kumar Naik (25), both residents of Dasingabadi under Daringbadi police station in Kandhamal district; and Trilochan Patra (35), a resident of Paniganda under Adova police station. During the second operation, the team seized one more leopard skin, two motorcycles and four mobile phones, taking the total number of leopard skins recovered in the two operations to three. Officials said investigators are examining the backward and forward linkages of the suspected wildlife trafficking network to identify the poachers who supplied the skins and establish possible connections with inter-state wildlife crime syndicates. The forest division is also comparing the latest seizures with a leopard-skin case handled by the Baliaguda forest division a few weeks ago. Preliminary findings point to suspected poaching networks operating across the Kandhamal-Gajapati border, an area where camera traps have previously recorded leopard movement in Ramagiri and Udayagiri, officials said. All six accused have been booked under the Wildlife Protection Act and produced before the court. Further investigation is still underway. (ANI)
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