Maharashtra: Three held with leopard skin in Gondia district

GONDIA: Three persons were arrested for allegedly possessing the skin of a leopard and attempting to sell it at a village in Maharashtra's Gondia district, police said on Thursday. Acting on a tip-off, a team from Navegaonbandh police nabbed the accused from Bhiwakhidki village and recovered the skin of a subadult leopard from their possession late on Wednesday night, an official said.
The police had received information that the trio was trying to sell the skin and a decoy customer was sent to bring them to the village, he said, adding that nails and other parts of the animal were also recovered.
The accused have been identified as Devidas Dago Maraskolhe (52) from Jhadgaon (Sakoli), Mangesh Keshav Gaidhani (44) of Pohara (Lakhni) and Rajneesh Purushottam Pogde (32) of Sakoli, the official said.
The trio has been handed over to the forest department for further probe, he added.