24 April 2020




BHUBANESWAR: Illegal trade of pangolin and its scales continues unabated in Odisha as Athagarh Forest division officials on Thursday arrested three poachers and recovered 19 scales and two loaded country riffles from their possession. The poachers, also smugglers, are identified as Bagun Laguri (48) from Paniama, Mangal Digi (40) and Lalmohan Chattar (55) from Musulia.

They were arrested by an Athagarh forest team from Subasi Forest Reserve in Khuntuni range of the division. Athagarh Divisional Forest Officer Sasmita Lenka said the three arrested are from the tribal community. “They were apprehended while they were trying to sell the scales to traders in Subasi reserve forest,” she said. The poachers kill the pangolin, extract its scale and sell it to big smugglers who then export it outside the State..

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