Two women arrested in Punjab for smuggling tiger skins

Amritsar, Dec.29 (ANI): Forest rangers have arrested two women for their alleged role in smuggling skins and other body parts of two tigers.

Apart from tigers, some body parts and teeth of deer were also recovered from them.

Sewa Singh, the Divisional Forest Officer, Amritsar Range said the women did not reveal anything apart from their identity.

The samples of tiger's skin are being sent to the Wildlife Institute at Dehradun for further investigations, he said.

"The two arrested women have been identified as Geeta and Taka who are residents of Karnataka. But during interrogation, the women said they are not residing in any particular place and they have not revealed much information about this smuggling," said Singh.

"They told us that these skins are fake and probably they are making stories about it. But our investigation is underway for which we would send the samples of these skins to Wildlife Institute of India at Dehradun," he added.

Singh further said the accused women would get tough punishment, if proven guilty.

"Under the Wildlife Protection 1972 Act, the women will be punished for smuggling tigers body parts. The women will get imprisonment of minimum three years and maximum seven years and would be imposed a fine of minimum ten thousand rupees," said Singh.

He also informed that the recovered skins were of a tiger and a cub that would have fetched the smugglers in the international market, at least rupees 65000 and 35000 respectively. By Ravinder Singh Robin (ANI)