The seized animal skin. Telegraph picture

Balasore, Sept. 29: Wildlife officials of Mayurbhanj seized hides of a leopard and a spotted deer from the middleman of a smuggling racket.

The accused, Biranchi Nayak, 34, of Sanajunabani in Kuliana, was booked under sections of the Wildlife Protection Act. He was taken into custody last evening.

A team consisting of staff members of the Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR) and officials of the Mayurbhanj forest department trapped Nayak. One STR employee, disguised as a buyer, had approached Nayak. A deal was finalised at Rs 80,000 for the hides. The operation took place near Canal Chhak at Rangamatia.

Deputy director of the tiger reserve Ajit Kumar Satpathy said: “The accused was caught trying to sell the animal skins. We are trying to track the syndicate involving such middlemen, poachers, smugglers and buyers. Today, the accused was produced in court.”

“Lengths of the hides of the leopard and the deer were 159cm and 71cm, respectively. Age of both the animals could be around three to four years, and they were killed more than a year ago,” said a forest departmental official.

In March, sleuths of the Balasore vigilance wing had arrested a 20-year-old man from Mayurbhanj on the charge of possessing illegal wildlife products. The accused was identified as Maheswar Nayak, a resident of Dhopada in the Sarat police station area.

The forest department of Mayurbhanj in June last year had seized two leopard skins and arrested two persons. They were identified as Manibhadra Samal, 50, and Sankarsan Behera, 45, both residents of Balasore.