Sloth bear international racket unearthed by forest department

Kolkata: The state Forest department has unearthed an international racket of illegal animal trading by rescuing a small sloth bear from Patipukur area in Dum Dum. Two persons having the bear in their possession wrapped in a cloth inside a bag have been arrested.

“We had a tip off regarding the arrival of the sloth bear under Basirhat range from Bangladesh and accordingly a search operation was going on for tracing the same. Finally today (Friday) we have managed to rescue the animal and the two persons who had the bear in their possession have been arrested. The two were produced at a local court and have been remanded to 14 days judicial custody,” said Abhijit Kar, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), North 24 Parganas.

Prima facie interrogation of the two arrested persons identified as Md Irfan and Bittu Mondal have revealed that they have been involved in such smuggling quite for sometime. “They were trying to pass off the information to various persons to strike a deal so that they could sell the bear. We will interrogate them for further leads, “said a senior official of the Forest department.