Six including poacher arrested, leopard skin seized

BARIPADA (Odisha): Six persons, including a poacher, were arrested and a leopard skin and horns of nine sambars seized from them near Similipal wildlife sanctuary in Odisha's Mayurbhanj district today.

Acting on a tip-off, a team of forest officials along with police arrested the six persons from Chandbil, Project director of Similipal Tiger Project (STP), Anup Kumar Nayak said.

A 3.5-foot long leopard skin and horns of nine sambars were seized from the gang members, including poacher Shankar Tudu of Salaghati area, he said adding the seized items were planned to be smuggled to Kolkata.

Tudu has confessed to have extracted the skin of the leopard after killing the animal with poison, forest officials said.