Odisha: Two leopard skin smugglers get six-month imprisonment

A court in Odisha’s Khurda district has sentenced two persons to rigorous imprisonment for six months after convicting them of smuggling leopard skin.

Sudhir Behera and Subash Chandra Behera of Nayagarh district were on Tuesday found guilty under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

The duo was arrested by STF on the intervening night of April 1-2, 2021, in the Bolagarh area, and a leopard skin was recovered from their possession while the two persons were proceeding on a motorcycle to strike a deal for selling the animal skin, the STF said in a statement. “During the investigation, the seized leopard skin was also sent to Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun for biological chemical examination, and opinion was received affirmatively,” the statement said.