Latest News | UP: 2 Members of Wildlife Smugglers Gang Held, Animal Bones Seized

Pilibhit (UP), Oct 1 (PTI) Two members of a gang involved in wildlife smuggling have been arrested here and bones of wild animals have been seized from them, an official said on Sunday.

Divisional Forest Officer Naveen Khandelwal said the arrests were made during a joint operation of the Uttar Pradesh Police's Special Task Force, Pilibhit Tiger Reserve and Wildlife Crime Control Bureau.

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The arrested accused have been identified as Akshay and Ram Chandra. The other accused, Anil, managed to escape into the and the search is on to nab him, the officer said.

Bones of wild animals have been recovered from them, he said, adding a case under relevant sections of the Wildlife Protection Act has been registered against the accused.

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Khandelwal said that the bones seized from the accused seem to be that of tigers but that was being examined by experts.

During interrogation, the accused told officials that they sell animal parts in Nepal and China. They had come to Pilibhit from Lakhimpur Kheri by bus and were going to Nepal to sell the bones, the divisional 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)