India: Four poachers have been arrested by crime branch for killing a five-year-old leopard inside the jungle of Raigad and later selling its skin and 7 tiger claws worth Rs 7.73 lakh from the Dombivli railway station area.The accused are all tribal---Sandip Shingare (36), Mahadev Vargade (67), Dehu Hamber (42) and Aakash Fage (22) all residents of Pali, Raigad district were arrested by the crime branch unit-3 along with forest officials.Acting on a tip-off that some persons are hunting for the customers for selling the skin and claws and were coming near Dombivili railway police station, the team of crime branch officials lead by senior inspector Shailendra Nagarkar kept a vigil and nabbed the foursome moving in a suspicious manner.The police who nabbed them on Monday evening at about 4.30 p.m. carried out a search and recovered Leopard skin and seven nails from their possession, Parag Manere, deputy commissioner of police (crime) informed.The combined cost of the seizure was to the tune of Rs. 7.73 lakhs while the cost of the skin alone was Rs.

7 lakhs said Manere. The probe revealed that the age of the killed Leopard was five years old.The modus by the poachers is unique as they would put a poison named Aldrin on the dead animal corpse. After which the leopard would feed on and corpse and collapse to death and the four would peel off the skin.The accused are professional hunters and believed to be involved in similar incident.? "We are now finding out if any more persons are behind the gang which indulged in the hunting of the animal and selling their skins and if they had indulged in more such huntings," said Shailendra Nagarkar.The four have been booked under sections 9,39,48(a),48(A), 49(B),50 and 51 of Protection of wild life rules, 1972 he said..

(Source: Nyooz)