Overview
- The DRI’s Nagpur Regional Unit intercepted two suspects near Purada village and recovered a leopard skin during an operation carried out on Tuesday, Sept. 29.
- The two people and the seized hide were handed to the Forest Range Officer, North Deoria Range, Gondia, for prosecution under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, which bans trade in leopards and their parts.
- DRI officials said the Gondia arrest forms part of an ongoing, intelligence-driven campaign that has recently produced seizures of leopard skins in Ujjain, tiger bones in Seoni, pangolin scales in Pileru and Jagdalpur, and elephant ivory in Mysuru.
- The operation highlights the DRI’s closer coordination with state forest departments and other enforcement agencies to target organised routes that move high-value items for exotic-pet and collector markets.
- Earlier DRI actions cited by officials include a Karnataka interception that recovered 180 live Indian Star Tortoises hidden in cloth covers, a pattern that points to both local criminal networks and demand-driven international trafficking.