5th September 2005

The West Bengal Police seized one leopard skin and three chital skins in Canning on 3 September 2005. Two men, residents of Basanti and Gosaba, were arrested.

A few days ago, on 31 August 2005, one leopard skin and one chital skin were seized in the Sundarbans by the West Bengal Forest Department.

The leopard skin seizures are intriguing, since the Sundarbans area does not have leopards. The origin of the skins will have to be carefully investigated by the enforcement authorities.4