Environment
Archived — This article has been archived. The information may be outdated.
MP probe links leopard skins to NGO staff
NDTV··17 Aug
Ten leopard skins were seized in Agra from alleged poacher Bhagwan Singh, who used the name Salim. PCCF-Wildlife Samita Rajora said the accused had links to Delhi-based Wildlife SOS. Nine people have been arrested in a joint probe by Uttar Pradesh forests, the State Tiger Strike Force and WCCB. The NGO rejected the allegations and said it is cooperating.
Prism
What It Means For You
- If you follow wildlife crime, 10 leopard skins seized on the Gwalior-Agra highway opened a probe that now spans Madhya Pradesh and Delhi.
- Anyone living near Kuno, Sheopur or Morena can note officials mapped alleged poaching of 10 leopards in that cheetah landscape.
- If you support or work with Wildlife SOS, the NGO says it rejects the allegations and is cooperating with investigators.
What's Happening
- Forest officials said two arrested men named links to Wildlife SOS, including a Delhi worker detained on 13 August.
- The STSF issued a notice for the NGO's CEO to appear in Shivpuri on 17 August.
- Nine people have been arrested; investigators have not established that the organisation itself committed the crime.
How The Traps And Trail Were Mapped
- Rajora said Madhya Pradesh had not seen this class of banned leg-hold trap incident for about a decade.
- Accused men allegedly could not reliably distinguish a leopard from a cheetah in the same forests.
- A joint STF-WCCB team also arrested an accused in New Delhi on 11 August on what the department called scientific evidence.
all-newsdaily-roundup
