Four people in posession of seven leopard pelts and bones of the big cat were arrested on Tuesday near Kotdwar. The Kotdwar police apprehended the men with the wildlife contraband in a car near lalpani bridge on the Pauri-Kotdwar highway.
The Special Operation Group (SOG) in charge Vikas Bharadwaj informed Kotdwar Police Kotwali inspector Jasveer Singh Pundir about a Wagon-R car with Delhi number plates suspected of containing contraband being driven from Dugadda towards Kotdwar. Alerted, the police signaled the driver of the said car to halt near the lalpani bridge.
In response, the three men abandoned the car and attempted to escape towards the woods carrying polythene and jute bags.
The trio was nabbed by the cops apart from taking into custody the driver of the car who had remained on the driver’s seat. A search of the car led to the discovery of seven leopard pelts and bones of the big cat.
The police lodged a case against the four men under various sections of the Wildlife Protection Act apart from which the car they were using was also impounded. On being interrogated by the police, the men claimed that they were smuggling the leopard pelts from Tripalisain to Kotdwar where they were supposed to have handed over the contraband to a person.
The arrested men have been identified as Chaurikhal resident Manoj Dhasmana, Tripali resident Pankaj Rawat and Prem Singh- all from Thalisain Tehsil, along with Simbalchaur, Kotdwar resident Arjun Singh. The police team involved in the seizure included Kotdwar SHO JS Pundeer, SSI Vijay Singh and SOG sub inspector Vikas Bharadwaj along with other policemen. The contraband seized by the police is estimated to be valued at `60 lakh in the international market.