A special team of forest officials seized a tiger rug (skin) in Kannivadi Range Division during a surprise raid on Friday.
Five persons — Kribanath Junius, Haleel Rahman, Satya Kumar, all from Batlgundu, Ponraj of Kayatharu and Then Pandi alias Meenakshisundaram, a native of Sattur who settled in Coimbatore – were arrested in this connection.
Talking to presspersons, District Forest Officer D. Venkatesh said that the seized taxidermy tiger rug was tempered by Van Ingen, a taxidermy firm.
The company’s seal was affixed on the back side of the rug. (Van Ingen was a taxidermist lived in Mysore and died 2013.)
It was processed in 1970 and the nail was intact in the rug, he added.
The officials intercepted a car at Salai Pudhur and secured the five. The car was also seized.
Further investigation is on.
