New Delhi, Mar 22 (PTI) The Delhi Police on Wednesday claimed to have busted a racket involved in the smuggling of skin of Bengal tigers with the arrest of five people.

The accused have been identified as Amir Khan and Rahul Rawat, residents of Vasant Kunj; Deepak Kumar, a resident of Gurgaon; Mohit and Shivam Sisodiya, both residents of Mahipalpur, officials said.

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Two Bengal tiger skin were seized from their possession, they said.

According to police, the accused are members of the racket indulged in smuggling of skin of Bengal tigers and is active in the Delhi-NCR region.

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A tip-off was received by police that the accused would come to the Chhatarpur Metro Station to strike a deal with some prospective buyers of the tiger skin. The gang sold the same at Rs 20 lakh for each skin, a senior police officer said.

A trap was laid in Vasant Kunj and Khan was nabbed. One Bengal tiger skin was recovered from him, the officer said.

The other gang member Deepak was nabbed from Kullu in Himachal Pradesh. Later, Mohit was arrested from Delhi, he said.

Police apprehended Sisodiya and one more tiger skin was recovered from a jungle area near Qutub Vihar, Goyla Dairy, police said, adding that Rahul was also arrested.

During interrogation, it emerged that Sisodia was the main supplier of the tiger skin.

Further investigation is on in the matter, police added.

(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)