Mumbai DRI seizes two leopard skins in Odisha’s Rayagada, four arrested

In a major crackdown on wildlife crime, officials of the Mumbai Zonal Unit of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on Monday seized two leopard skins from the Kolnara area of Rayagada district and arrested four individuals involved in the illegal trade.

According to officials, a special DRI team conducted raids at multiple locations in Rayagada after receiving specific intelligence inputs. During the operation, they apprehended four suspects and recovered the leopard skins from their possession.

The accused have been identified as Prabhakar Nayak and Raj Kumar Gupta from Nagpur in Maharashtra, Mahesh Huika from the Machhkhunti area of Gunpur, and Anjar Singh from the Putasingh area of the district.

Following their arrest, the accused were produced before the SDJM Court and later sent to judicial custody. Sources said the DRI team had reached Rayagada on July 30 to carry out a detailed investigation and coordinate the raids.

Authorities are probing the network involved in the trafficking of wildlife products and suspect a wider nexus operating across state borders.