Four arrested for killing leopard in Golaghat district

A Correspondent

Numaligarh: Four persons from Torfat Ahomgaon village in Golaghat district were arrested by Golaghat Forest division with the help of Golaghat police on Thursday for killing, consuming and holding body parts of a leopard that was killed on April 18.

Leopards are Schedule 1 on the list of endangered species, leading to the furore that erupted among the wildlife lovers of the State, over the killing and consuming of the endangered animal. A part of the carcass of the killed leopard was recovered by police from the village on April 18 and Golaghat Forest division has been working hard collecting information and clues in the case since then.

Acting on the information provided by their sources, Divisional Forest Officer of Golaghat, Bhaskar Deka along with ACF, Forest Range officer and a police team carried out an operation in the village and nabbed two persons, Joonmon Gogoi and Raktim Gogoi. Forest department sources said that both were involved in the killing of the leopard. Based on the statement received from the two during interrogation, two more accused were arrested later in the day. The two accused arrested later in the day were identified as Thagiram Gogoi and Nityananda Saikia. All the four accused are from Torfat Ahomgaon village where the leopard was killed last Saturday. A portion of skin and two teeth of the killed leopard were also recovered from the possession of the accused.

DFO Bhaskar Deka said, “On April 22, we received ample information from our sources about the persons engaged in the killing of the leopard last Saturday. This morning at around 3 am, I along with my forest staff and a police team proceeded to Torfat Ahomgaon and detained two suspects. Later in the day, two more suspects were arrested based on the statement given by the two persons arrested earlier. Some remains of the killed leopard were also recovered from their possession. All the four accused will be now presented before the court of law and will be booked under Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.”

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