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Surajpur (Chhattisgarh), Jul 29 (PTI) Three men have been arrested for allegedly attempting to smuggle tiger skin, pangolin scales and wildlife body parts in Chhattisgarh’s Surajpur district, forest officials said on Wednesday.
The accused were intercepted near Baijnathpur village on the Odgi-Bhaiyathan Road on Tuesday, a day ahead of International Tiger Day, following a joint operation by the state forest department and the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), Central Region, Bhopal.
The WCCB had alerted the Surajpur forest division on July 27 about a planned illegal trading and smuggling of body parts of wild animals, including their skins and scales, in the district, a forest official said.
The trio was stopped at the Dharsedi Road security
blockade, leading to the recovery of one tiger skin and around 4-5 kg of pangolin scales from their possession, the official said.
The arrested accused were identified as Tikeshwar Prasad Rajwade (38), Bhukhanlan (55) and Garibalan (56), all residents of the Odgi police station area, he said.
An investigation is underway to ascertain whether the three accused are poachers or if their role was restricted to smuggling.
The tiger skin appears to be only a few days old, the official said, adding that no tiger has been sighted in the Surajpur area recently.
Preliminary questioning has indicated the possible involvement of other local and inter-state wildlife traffickers in the illegal network, the official added.
The state government recently informed the Chhattisgarh assembly that five cases of tiger poaching or trafficking had been reported since 2024, leading to the seizure of six tiger skins and the arrest of 41 accused. PTI COR TKP NSK
