Assam: 2 vehicles carrying wild animals seized in Rangia

Rangia: Two vehicles carrying a large number of wild animals were seized in the Rangia region, said the officials on Thursday.
The wild animals that were recovered from the traffickers included rare species of tortoises, monkeys etc. "We have recovered a large number of wild animals from two vehicles. During interrogation, the arrested persons revealed that they were coming from Mizoram. They wanted to smuggle them to different places in North India," said Rangia Police.
Further investigations are underway.
Earlier on August 31, the forest officials in Assam on Wednesday recovered body parts of wild animals including two leopard skins in the Nagaon district.
Based on the information of the Forest Department, the Nagaon Forest Division officials on Wednesday launched an operation in Doboka Namati and Kampur areas and recovered two leopard skins and some pangolin skins.
The forest officials also apprehended four persons identified as Abdul Rahman, Afaz Uddin, Samed Ali and Nizam Uddin regarding the case.
The Nagaon Forest Division official had registered a case in connection with the recovery.
Bhaskar Deka, District Forest Officer, Nagaon Forest Division told ANI that they had launched the operation based on the information received yesterday from the PCCF (Principal Chief Conservator of Forests) and HoFF (Head of Forest Forces).
"After getting the information we went to the Doboka Namati where we detected some pangolin skin and leopard skin. We seized pangolin skins weighing about 10-12 kg and two leopard skins," Deka said.
Earlier this month, forest officials in Assam caught three persons for their alleged involvement in the illegal rhino horn trade in the Golaghat district.
According to the forest officials, the trio have been involved in the smuggling of rhino horns near Kaziranga National Park.
Assam forest department has been facing a new challenge to protect one-horned Rhinoceros in the state after a case of poachers using tranquillizers to remove rhino horns has come to light in Assam's Orang National Park earlier this year.
According to the reports, poachers chopped off the horn without killing a sub-adult rhino in the national park.
The park officials had come to know about the incident on May 9 and found dehorned a sub-adult male rhino, aged between 10-12 years in the Muwamari area inside the park. (ANI)