Three arrested for trading leopard nails in Mancherial

Forest officials arrested three persons at Ootla village in Dandepalli mandal of Mancherial district for allegedly trading wildlife articles. Thirteen nails suspected to belong to a leopard were seized. Officials suspect the animal might have been poached months earlier

Mancherial: Three persons were arrested on charges of trading wildlife articles at Ootla village in Dandepalli mandal on Saturday. Thirteen nails of a wild animal, suspected to be a leopard, were seized from them.

Forest officials said Modte Venkatesh and Modte Srinivas, both from Ootla village, and Vanaparthi Srikanth of Mamidipalli village were apprehended while allegedly attempting to trade wildlife articles in Luxettipet following a tip-off. Forest department staff surrounded the area from four directions and conducted searches. They identified the three accused and seized the nails from their possession. During the operation, officials deployed a sniffer dog named Cheetah to trace the suspects and managed to detain them while they were allegedly trying to sell the nails to potential buyers.

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The accused are being interrogated to identify the poachers and others involved in the crime, if any. It is suspected that a leopard was poached in the Tadlapet range under the Jannaram division. Officials said further details of the operation would be disclosed in another bulletin to be released by 7 pm. They added that the interrogation was being kept confidential to help nab the poachers who killed the animal.

Preliminary findings indicate that the animal might have been poached a few months ago.