A team of foresters of the Jaldapara wildlife division in Alipurduar arrested a couple and seized wild animal parts from them on Tuesday night.
“We acted on a tip-off and a special team led by Swarnadipta Rakshit, one of our officers, intercepted a car in Alipurduar. The couple were travelling in the car. When the vehicle was searched, ivory pieces and leopard canines were found in it,” said Parveen Kaswan, the divisional forest officer of Jaldapara wildlife division.
Sources said that altogether, two kilos of ivory (elephant tusks) in three pieces, and four leopard canines were seized from Parimal Chandra Dey and his wife, Debjani. They are from Jhinaidanga under the jurisdiction of Kotwali police station in Cooch Behar district. The vehicle in which the couple were travelling was also seized.
The foresters suspect that the couple were involved in smuggling wild animal parts from the Northeast into Bhutan.
“The husband had been booked twice in arms cases earlier and had spent days behind bars. We need to know from where they collected the animal parts and to whom they intend to deliver the same,” said a forest official.
A case has been registered under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, against Chandra and Debjani. On Wednesday afternoon, a court in Alipurduar remanded the couple in the custody of the forest department for 10 days.