India News | Chhattisgarh: Four Held for Killing a Leopard
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. Four persons were arrested on Wednesday for allegedly killing a leopard in a village in Chhattisgarh's Jashpur district, forest officials said.
Jashpur, Oct 28 (PTI) Four persons were arrested on Wednesday for allegedly killing a leopard in a village in Chhattisgarh's Jashpur district, forest officials said.
The full-grown leopard died on Tuesday near Patratoli village under Pathalgaon forest range after coming in contact with an iron wire that had electric current, laid by poachers to trap wild boar, they said.
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Some local villagers had spotted the carcass of the leopard near Khamgada reservoir and alerted the forest officials about it on Tuesday evening.
When the forest personnel reached the spot, they found the carcass missing, a senior forest official said.
Some vital organs of the dead leopard were also found missing in the photographs clicked by villagers, he said.
"Following this, a massive search was launched in the area and a dog squad from Achanakmar Tiger Reserve was also roped in," he said.
During the investigation, the forest personnel zeroed in on four suspects with the help of locals and interrogated them during which they confessed that they committed the offence, he said.
Those arrested were identified as Gokul Sai Sidar, Chandan Sai Sidar, Hemsagar Sidar and Keshar, all native of Patratoli village, he said.
Based on their statements, the carcass of the leopard was recovered from a cave on a nearby hill and its two nails, teeth, tail were also seized from the accused, he said.
The accused had laid the electric wire trap to hunt a wild boar, but the leopard had accidentally got electrocuted, he said.
They were booked under provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972, the officialsaid, adding that further investigation is underway.
(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)