Officials of Madurai Forest Division arrested four persons from a village near Usilampatti on Monday for alleged possession of a leopard skin.
District Forest Officer J. R. Samartha said that the officials were acting on a tipoff that two men were trying to sell leopard skin. “We formed a special team from which some members approached the men as potential buyers,” he said.
Forest department sources said that the officials managed to deceive the two and met them when they were in possession of the skin. Another team, which was made to wait, meanwhile, reached the spot and arrested the two, sources said. They added that based on the information provided by the two men, two more were arrested later.
Sources said that the four detained men were making contradicting claims on how they obtained the skin.
“Some are saying that they bought from other poachers. Others say they themselves poached a leopard a few months back,” an official said. Another official said that the men were trying to sell the skin through a network of poachers for about Rs. 4 lakh.
Mr. Samartha said that the four men were being questioned and would be produced before a magistrate for remand on Tuesday.
Stating that the men were providing some information on the network, he indicated that more arrests could follow.
