Assam forest officials busted animal skin smuggling racket; three arrested

GUWAHATI: Assam forest officials have busted a racket in the illegal trade of animal skins and bones and arrested three poachers, officials said on Thursday. Kaziranga National Park Director Karmashree P. Sivakumar said that three poachers were arrested on Wednesday near Bihpukuri within Biswanath Wildlife Division for illegal trading and possession of leopard skin and bones.

"The leopard is suspected to be hunted in between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh border area. Forest officials probing the case to unearth further details of the racket," Sivakumar said in a media communication. Forest officials are now interrogating the three detainees — Yudhisthir Tati, 28, Subhash Mirdha,24 and Bulet Munda, 37. The endangered clouded leopard has been listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) since 2008. In India, clouded leopards are restricted to the country's northeast region — the eastern Himalayas, the Assam valley, and the hills south of the Brahmaputra. (IANS)

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