Three Arrested in Siliguri for Killing Leopard, Eating Its Meat

On a tip-off, the West Bengal forest department officials arrested three young men for killing and feasting on leopard meat. The accused later tried to smuggle the skin and paws of the dead Leopard as a picture of a leopard went viral on social media.

The Wild Life Crime Control Bureau brought the matter to the notice of Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and the state forest department. The officials of both the departments immediately started the investigation and after 15 days of probing, the offenders were finally arrested.

Some people have taken a selfie by pulling the head of a dead leopard. All those pictures have also been posted on social media. And the incident came to light while conducting the operation based on that source. Not only did he take a selfie with the dead tiger, but the three young men cooked the leopard meat and ate it. Then they were trying to sell the tiger skin. At that time, the officials of the forest department caught him in the act.

The incident happened in the Ghoshpukur area of the Siliguri subdivision. After the leopard skin was recovered, the incident came to light. There has been widespread unrest in the area. Three people have been arrested in a joint operation of SSB’s intelligence department and Ghoshpukur port office. This is the first such incident in the area, police and customs officials said.

Pitalus Karketta, 24, and Mukesh Karketta, 18, were first arrested near the Orange Tea Garden in Siliguri. The bike was searched and leopard skin was recovered. It is learned that they were trying to take them to Nepal and sell them. After questioning the accused, the name of Tapas Khura came up from the Ranchera tea garden in Malbazar. He was also arrested after the raid. Tiger claws were recovered from him. During interrogation, they said that they had recently hunted this leopard.

Sonam Bhutia, range officer of the forest department, said they first saw a Facebook post. Many were taking pictures and posting with the dead tiger. Later they found out that tiger skin is being smuggled. That’s when the link to the incident was found.

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