GUWAHATI: The anti-smuggling unit of the Guwahati Customs Division arrested two alleged wildlife smugglers from Nilbagan village in the Nagaon-Hojai border of Assam with tiger skin and bones on Monday night.
The team, acting on specific intelligence, stopped the suspects who were riding a two-wheeler registered in the Nagaon district. They were carrying a white gunny bag containing tiger skin measuring approximately 5 feet 10 inches, along with over 200 bone fragments, including skull, jaws, and canine teeth, weighing 2341 grams in total.
According to officials, the smugglers had killed the tiger over a year ago and were attempting to smuggle its skin to Myanmar.
Customs Division Guwahati Deputy Commissioner Varun Yadav told the media, "We are empowered under the Wildlife Act to carry out such operations, and we received information that a few people had killed the animal in Assam's Karbi Anglong district and were planning to sell it to some other states. There are at times even attempts to smuggle it to foreign countries as well."
He added that after recovering the remains, they sought assistance from the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) to verify the authenticity of the carcass. "We have registered a case against them under the Customs and Wildlife Protection Act, and we will be working closely with the forest department to unearth more details about this incident," he said.
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