Three men transporting a tiger skin arrested in Kolkata

Kolkata, Jan 23 (IANS) Three persons were arrested near the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass here on Thursday and a tiger skin seized from them, officials said.Following a tip-off, a joint team of the Eastern Region office of the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau and the Wildlife Crime Control Unit of West Bengal Forest Directorate carried out a raid and seized the tiger skin from a hotel in the evening.The accused were identified as Aninda Mukherjee, 52, Tarak Halder, 57, and Ebrahim Mondal, 42.According to wildlife officials, the metropolis, because of its proximity to a number or southeast Asian countries, serves as a transit route for smuggling.Several wildlife agencies have made seizures from time to time from the metropolis over the past few years.
--IANS ssp/vd