Indore, Nov 20 (PTI) A poacher and four smugglers were arrested on Saturday with the leopard skin and eight nails in Madhya Pradesh's Indore district, police said.

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The estimated value of the seized items in the black market is Rs 70 lakh.

Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Puneet Gehlod told reporters that police arrested Champalal Kannauje (48), Shahrukh Khan (24), Ahmed Raza (21), Yasin Ali (56) and Salim Khan (50) from the Khudail area.

The accused are residents of Indore, Dewas and Barwani districts.

“The main accused, Kannauje, had killed the leopard a few months back with his gun in the forest adjoining Patharipala village in neighbouring Dewas district and removed its skin and nails. He was looking for customers with the help of four smugglers," the ASP said.

The accused disclosed that the leopard skin and nails are used in tantric rituals, Gehlod said.

He said that Kannauje was earlier arrested in the Dewas district for allegedly poaching a deer and is currently out on bail.

A gun has been seized from Kannauje and a case registered against the five accused under the Wildlife Protection Act.

(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)