According to regional deputy director (northern region) of Wildlife Crime Control Bureau Ramesh K Pandey, a joint operation involving the WCCB, UP STF and Najibabad police arrested five persons based on intelligence provided by the bureau.
The five were arrested with one tiger and four leopard pelts, bones and two iron traps used specifically for trapping big cats. The kingpin of the gang, Dharmveer Kanjar, was also among those arrested. The rest have been identified as Sunil Nath and Omar of Najibabad, Navi Singh of Dharchula and the car driver, Punit Chauhan.
It is believed that Dharmveer received wildlife contraband from the plains and hilly regions of Uttarakhand. According to Pandey, Najibabad is a convenient town with links to both the hills and the plains due to which Dharmveer was able to source banned wildlife commodities from all parts of the State. Read the full report here.
Source: The Pioneer, Dehradun.
