SRINAGAR: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has dismantled a wildlife smuggling racket in the Kashmir Valley by apprehending eight individuals, including a police officer, involved in the illegal trade.
An official press release stated that the DRI launched an operation after developing specific intelligence indicating that several gangs in Srinagar were engaged in the illicit wildlife trade. These gangs were actively seeking prospective buyers for the sale of leopard skins.
Upon receiving this information, the DRI planned an operation to apprehend the members of these gangs. Subsequently, officers from the Mumbai Zonal Unit (Goa Regional Unit) of the DRI, undercover as potential buyers, arrived in Srinagar.
“After a series of negotiations, the sellers brought the first leopard skin to a predetermined location in Srinagar, near Dalgate. Surveillance officers intercepted an individual who was in possession of a leopard skin near the designated area. Based on the information provided by this individual, another accomplice was intercepted at a public location in Srinagar,” the press release elaborated.
Following the successful interception of the first suspect, DRI officers, still posing as buyers, engaged in extensive negotiations with another gang of sellers.
“Following overnight negotiations, the sellers eventually agreed to deliver three leopard skins to a pre-designated site. Three individuals carrying the contraband (three leopard skins) were intercepted. The leads derived from the information collected from them indicated that three more individuals associated with the transaction were located nearby at a public spot. Two teams of officers were promptly dispatched, and they intercepted these three individuals at the public location,” the press release stated.
The DRI further revealed that a total of eight individuals, including a serving police constable, were apprehended in connection with this illegal wildlife trading operation. A total of four leopard skins (Panthera pardus) were successfully recovered.
Initial investigations suggest that the leopards were poached from Ladakh, Doda, and Uri (KNO).
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