Jaldapara, Feb. 25: Five skins of clouded leopard were seized from a member of a gang involved in smuggling animal parts along the Bhutan border.

Krishna Lama from Chhota Lama Basti in Jaigaon was arrested this afternoon. He was picked up by the forest officials of the Jaldapura Wildlife Sanctuary from Dalsingpara under Jaigaon police station.

The clouded leopard is listed in Schedule-I of the Wildlife Protection Act.

Around 12 noon, the forest staff received information that an young man wearing a jacket and a cap would travel from Jaigaon to Siliguri in a bus with the clouded leopard skins. They were told that he would change buses in his effort to reach the destination without being noticed by the forest staff.

The foresters fanned out in plainclothes to different spots between Jaigaon and Hasimara. Around 1.30pm, they spotted a person matching the description alighting from the Jaigaon-Siliguri bus at Dalshingpara and caught him red-handed and recovered the clouded leopard skins.

After interrogation, the forest staff found that Lama was part of a racket which smuggles animal parts into and out of the country. Manindra Biswas, divisional forest officer, Cooch Behar Forest Division, said two of the five skins were of adult clouded leopards. Of the rest, two are of cubs, while one is of a sub-adult.

The DFO added that the skins were smuggled into the country from Bhutan and were on way to Nepal from where they would have been taken to other countries.

The clouded leopard, which is generally found in high altitude, comes down to the plains during winter.

“The skin of the leopard is used for manufacturing decorative items such as bags, jackets and shoes. In the international market, the skin of an adult clouded leopard fetches Rs 2 to 4 lakh,” said Biswas.