12 leopard skins recovered in Lucknow

The Special Task Force (STF) of the Uttar Pradesh police today recovered 12 leopard skins, worth lakhs of rupees, from three members of an i...

The Special Task Force (STF) of the Uttar Pradesh police today recovered 12 leopard skins, worth lakhs of rupees, from three members of an international gang here.

Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Vikram Singh told reporters here that the three — Chiring Atup Tamand, a Nepali national, and siblings Amin Ahmed and Wakil Ahmed — were arrested from Quaiserbagh area.

Tamand used to work as a price assessor of leopard skin and other parts, including eyes and bones, which are used extensively in preparing traditional Chinese medicine, and Amin and Wakil were poachers, Singh said.

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A mobile phone and Rs 4.85 lakh in cash were also recovered from them.

The STF had arrested Tamand on an earlier occasion and had recovered 25 leopard skins from his gang in Kanpur and Lucknow.

‘‘Since they have money, they also have access to good lawyers which helps them get away with it,’’ Singh said.

The gang used to sell skin and other animal parts in local and international markets of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Kanpur, Allahabad, parts of Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Nepal, STF SP Anand Deo Tiwari said.

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Police had recovered tiger and leopard skins and bones from Lakhimpur Kheri and Sitapur districts in 2001 as well.