India Dehradun Police arrested three alleged poachers and seized a leopard skin from them in Sahaspuron the outskirts of Dehradun. The leopard skin is estimated to be worth Rs 5lakh in the international market and was to be sold to someone in Premnagar in Dehradun. Sub-inspector Pankaj Devrani, in charge of Sahaspur police station, told TOI, "After a tip-off regarding smuggling of skin of wild animals in Sahaspur, we intensified vigil at all check points and nabbed three people with a leopard skin. They were travelling on a motorcycle." The accused have been identified as Farmood, Saif Ali, both residents of Sahaspur, while Noor Mohammad hails from Saharanpur district in Uttar Pradesh.

Police said that Mohammad and Saif Ali had confessed to killing the leopard five to six days ago in the forest in Mohand, 25 km from Dehradun. The three accused have been booked under sections 3, 9, 39, 51 of the Wildlife Protection Act.

"We have found that both have links with the notorious poaching gang of Ali Jan, Yushuf and Dawood, who were arrested by Special Task Force (STF) on charges of smuggling parts of wild animals," said Devrani.

(Source: Times of India)