VISAKHAPATNAM: Officials of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on Tuesday raided a hotel on the Beach Road in Visakhapatnam and seized a leopard skin. They took into custody four persons and handed them over to the forest department officials.
The DRI carried out the raid following specific information that a gang is poaching leopards and selling their skins for huge profits.
The leopard skin and vehicles used by the gang have been seized. Four persons have been apprehended, three of them from Chennai, sources said.
The leopard (Panthera pardus) is listed in Schedule–I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Thereby, it is provided the highest degree of protection. Possession of the animal and its skin is a punishable offence under the act.
