2 held from Valsad for poaching leopard, trafficking remains for ‘tantrik rituals’

The forest department identified the two arrested persons as Ajay Patel, a resident of Navera village in Valsad and Suresh Vanjara from Malghar village, Valsad.

A release issued by the forest department said that on a tip-off, a team raided the residence of Patel and recovered leopard skin.

During interrogation, Patel reportedly said that he procured the leopard’s skin from Vanjara with an objective of trading the same.

Vanjara said that he got it from one Sitaram Valvi, who is a resident of the same Malghar village.

The release said, “All three of them have committed the crime of poaching a leopard and doing illegal trade of its skin.”

During further investigation, the forest officials also recovered some birds and bones of barn owl from Vanjara.

Both leopard and barn owl are protected species under the Wildlife Protection Act and they fall under the Schedule 1 of the Act.

The release added that evidence has been recovered proving that the accused are involved in illegal activities of poaching and selling of wildlife and tantrik rituals.

A senior forest official in Valsad said that while Patel and Vanjara have been arrested and sent to jail, Valvi is at large.

“We are coordinating with the police department to arrest Valvi. And Valvi’s arrest is important to find out where they got the leopard skin,” the official said.

A magisterial court in Valsad on Wednesday, rejected the bail applications of Patel and Vanjara and sent them to jail.

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