Berhampur (Odisha), Sep 15 (PTI) Four persons were arrested by forest personnel for allegedly poaching wild animals and trying to sell leopard skin in separate incidents in Odishas Ganjam district, officials said.

Carcass of a wild boar, leopard skin, sharp weapons and gunpowder have been seized from them, the officials said.

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One T Sushant Reddy of Mangarajpur village near Digapahandi was arrested on Monday evening for possessing and trying to sell leopard hide, Berhampur divisional forest officer Amlan Nayak said. The item is used for home decoration or in the making of luxury carpets.

"Posing as buyers, we invited the accused for a deal and arrested him," said range officer, Berhampur, Dillip Kumar Martha.

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The adult leopard was suspected to have been poached around 15 days ago, the DFO said.

During interrogation, the accused claimed that he had procured the hide from a person in Chandragiri area of Gajapati district and investigation is in progress, the range officer said.

In another operation, two persons - Srikant Das and Kabi Das - were arrested on Tuesday for allegedly killing a wild boar in a forest area near Sasan Ambagaon in Hinjili area, the DFO said.

The two might have killed the animal for selling its meat in the local market, forest officials said. Another person, Gagan Swain, was arrested on Tuesday from a forest near Aladigaon while trying to hunt wildlife.

Sharp weapons and gunpowder, used for killing animals, were seized from him, a forest officer said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)