Six suspects arrested for possessing leopard claws, canines released on conditional bail

A senior forest department officer said, “We informed the local environment court at Rohru that the suspects should be sent to the forest custody to unearth the entire chain of procurement of the prohibited wild animals’ body parts which appeared to be linked to an organised crime. The court granted all of the suspects conditional bail and directed them to join the ongoing investigation whenever required.”

The officer requesting anonymity told The Indian Express, “Out of 85 leopard claws, 49 along with 6 leopard canines were recovered from the shop of Praveen Chauhan”. Prima facie, the presence of such huge illegal parts of wild animals’ body parts couldn’t be possible without the involvement of a group, the forest officer added.

“The investigation is going on. The suspects who were released on conditional bails will be summoned for recording of their statements at the appropriate time,” the officer added.

Sources said that the leopard claws and teeth concealed inside the shops, and were to be used in amulets, lockets and ornamental jewellery, which was further to be sold between Rs 50,000 and Rs 1 lakh each. Demand for such items persists due to superstition, and some traders exploit it for illegal profit, they said.

At least 12 deputy rangers, forest guards and beat personnel divided in six teams carried out coordinated raids on the jewellery shops under the ‘Operation Clawing Back’ to bust the organised trade of wildlife body parts in the state, forest officials said. Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Ravi Shankar Sharma had supervised the operation.

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