Tiger skin seized, two Bhutanese nationals arrested

Darjeeling: Two international smugglers have been arrested with a 14-feet long Royal Bengal Tiger skin along with skull and bones. The two Bhutanese citizens were arrested from Hashimara Choupathy in the Alipurduar district on the Bhutan-Bengal border area.

The Special Task Force of the Forest Department arrested the duo on Tuesday. Three women who were part of the smuggling ring managed to slip away.

The two arrested have been identified as Namgay Wangdi and Yangba Nanang. One of them is a retired soldier of the Bhutan Army.

Sanjay Dutta, Range Officer, Belakoba, who leads the Special Task Force, stated: "On interrogation we found out that the tiger skin had been brought in from Assam. It was being taken to Kathmandu via Jaigaon border in Bengal. The tiger had been shot dead. The skin shows two bullet injury marks. The contraband would fetch Rs 32 lakhs."