Forest officials in north Bengal have busted a racket in smuggling animal skin and bones out of the country.
Leopard skin and bones were seized from three persons arrested from Baikunthapur Forest Division in Darjeeling district.
“Those arrested belong to a nomadic tribe from Rajasthan and their agents are spread across the country. They move with bag and baggage and are skilled in concealing the animal remains,” Dhramdeo Rai, Divisional Forest Officer in Baikunthapur, told The Hindu over telephone on Saturday.
Destination China Those arrested were trying to smuggle the animal parts to China via Nepal, he said, adding that investigation is on to nab the others involved in the racket.
“During interrogation, the three revealed that they had set up tents in the Oodlabari area in the district. The forest department along with local police conducted a search around the area with sniffer dogs and recovered leopard bones weighing around six kilograms,” Mr Rai added.
Animal skins and their body parts are smuggled from north Bengal to China through Nepal and it is this route that the smugglers have been taking over the past few years.
While leopard skin is used for decorative purpose the bones are used for making traditional Chinese medicine. Forest officials said that skin of an otter, a carnivorous mammal which is not terrestrial but riverine, was also recovered from the accused. The father of one of the arrested was nabbed from the same forest division in July last year for smuggling large quantities of pangolin scales and seahorse which were being taken to China.
While the involvement of those from the nomadic tribe from Rajasthan is evident, Mr Rai said, it is yet to be investigated whether the local people are involved in hunting of animals.
