85 leopard claws, five canines seized, woman among 6 arrested: HP Forest Department

All six accused were produced before a local environmental court in Rohru on Wednesday and sent to the custody of forest officials for further interrogation.

Five accused were sent to one-day custody of forest officials, while Chauhan was sent to two-day custody.

Of the six accused, five are owners of jewellery shops, while the woman worked as a manager at one of the establishments, officials said, adding that her employer is absconding.

Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Ravi Shankar Sharma, who supervised the operation, told The Indian Express, “We received tip-offs from multiple sources that some jewellery shops were selling body parts of protected wild animals. Six persons, including a woman, were arrested. We pinpointed six jewellery shops, where wildlife body parts were found during simultaneous raids conducted yesterday (Tuesday). The arrested accused are being questioned to ascertain the source of the seized body parts.”

The DFO said, “The seizure is huge. Our teams did not expect such a large recovery. The seized wildlife body parts will be sent for a forensic examination to the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) in Dehradun.”

Sources said the investigators found leopard claws and teeth concealed inside the shops, and were to be used in amulets, lockets and ornamental jewellery. Demand for such items persists due to superstition, and some traders exploit it for illegal profit, they said.

A case under various sections of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, was registered at the Rohru police station.