Man held with leopard skin in Champawat

Pithoragarh: A 42-year-old man was arrested by a joint team of Champawat police and the forest department after he was found carrying a leopard skin during a checking drive at Chalthi village in Champawat district on Friday.Acting on a tip-off, the team launched an inspection in Chalthi area and intercepted a shared taxi in which the accused, Ishwar Ram, a resident of Khatoli village, was travelling. During questioning, Ram told officials that he and his cousin Chandan Ram had installed an iron trap in the village forest about two years ago to catch wild animals, and that a leopard was caught in it. He said they later killed the animal and kept the skin, which he was planning to sell.Officials said the seized skin measured about 162 cm in length. Preliminary assessment indicated that the leopard was around two years old at the time of death. The skin is believed to be more than two years old. An FIR was lodged at Sukhidang forest range office under sections 9, 39, 48 and 49 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.