Leopard, tiger skins seized, three held
By Express News Service
07 Apr 2009 12:49:00 AM IST
DINDIGUL: Forest Department officials seized leopard and tiger skins worth Rs 8 lakh and arrested three persons, in Dindigul, here on Sunday.
Dindigul Forest Ranger N Thangaraj told reporters on Monday that a special team was constituted under him to keep a close watch on smuggling of tiger skins.
On Sunday, forest officials stopped four men carrying a gunny bag at Kappukadu Block 3 in Kannivadi range and found that it contained the skins of a leopard and a tiger. However, one of them managed to escape.
The arrested persons were Ponniah (32) alias Siva and Aravindan of Kudaiparaipatti, near Dindigul, and Saravanan (32) of Nilakkottai. The one who fled was Venakatesan from Nilakkottai.
On being interrogated, they said that they had bought the skins from a person at Vasudevanallur, near Rajapalayam, whose identity they did not know. They were produced before Radhakrishnan, Judicial Magistrate No 2 of Dindigul, who remanded them to 15 days custody.
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