Gopeshwar, Apr 3 (PTI) Two suspected wildlife smugglers were held with leopard skin in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district, police said on Wednesday.

The two were identified as Vikram alias Dabbu (38) and Dinesh Singh (45), residents of the Tharali area, they said.

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Following a tip-off, Dabbu and Dinesh were arrested with leopard skin from Meeng-Gadhera in Tharali late on Tuesday night, police said.

During interrogation, they said, the accused told police that they had found a leopard's carcass in a forest a couple of years ago. They removed its skin and buried the carcass. After drying the skin, they were now going to sell it.

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The estimated value of the leopard hide is Rs 4 lakh, according to police.

(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)