VYARA (TAPI): The arrest of six poachers in the Khervada forest range in the Tapi district on Tuesday threw up a startling revelation of leopard body parts used for gambling.
The poachers confessed to having removed leopard’s whiskers, legs and teeth that are used in gambling, called ‘aankdo’ locally. People here believe that keeping these body parts, especially whiskers, while gambling proves lucky, sources said.Some body parts are used in black magic as well.
According to forest officers, the incident came to light on April 3 when the patrolling staff found a leopard carcass in the forest and sounded an alert in the nearby areas. However, investigations revealed that the wild cat was killed on March 22.
“The whiskers, teeth and four legs of the leopard were missing and the body was decomposed. It was a clear case of poaching. We formed different teams and carried out search operations. We recovered body parts of Indian civet from the house of one of the accused Fatehsinh Vasava,” Puneet Nayyar, deputy conservator of forests, Vyara forest division, told TOI.
“During the probe, we found that some of the villagers have not been living there for the past few days and zeroed in on them,” he added.
Along with Fatehsinh, the forest officials arrested Balu Vasava, Chandu Vasava, Magatiya Vasava, Mansinh Vasava and Kunvarji Vasava, all residents of Khervada village.
They were booked under various sections of the Wildlife Protection Act and sent to judicial custody by a local court.
Nayyar said that a similar case of poaching leopard for black magic and gambling was detected in Surat district in 2016.