High Alert after leopard skin seized

Hitarth Pandya / TNN / Sep 16, 2007, 01:55 IST

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An alert has been sounded in south Gujarat following seizure of leopard skin in Dharampur.

SURAT: An alert has been sounded in south Gujarat following seizure of leopard skin in Dharampur.
While investigation has begun and five persons have been arrested by Valsad forest division, other district forest officials have tightened security in the bordering villages.
Valsad conservator of forest Kabool Chand told TOI that two more persons were arrested after the initial arrest of three persons on Wednesday.
Three were arrested with leopard skin which they were planning to sell for Rs 60,000 to a person staying in a bordering village of Maharashtra.

Following the arrest of cousin brothers Shukar Kuwar and Kishan Kuwar from Tanachiya village of Dharampur along with Rama Jadhav, forest officials hit upon another lead that the skin was procured from a person in Kantipada village of Umarthana of Maharashtra.
Officials visited Kantipada with Shukar Kuwar and arrested one Jivla Dahwad with the help of Maharashtra forest officials.
Sources in forest department said that Dahwad obtained the skin from a person in Dangs. "We are working on the links in the case and are following the trail of the nexus systematically. Mention of another person's name suggests that the skin business has been going on systematically," they said.

Said Kabool Chand: "We have roped in officials of Dangs and Valsad divisions to track down the poachers and find out links in the case. Going by the present status of the case, we would soon expose the network of illegal poaching and sale of leopard skin."
Meanwhile, Surat CF R J Asari has also sounded alert after the incident. "There is substantial number of leopards in our region and many of them can be sighted in villages as well. I have already sounded alert in the region. Especially, the officials monitoring bordering villages have been asked to remain on toes and report any suspicious movement immediately. Also, they have been asked to check vehicles passing through bordering villages thoroughly," he said.
hitarth.pandya@timesgroup.com

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