Kolkata, Jan 24 (IANS): Three persons were arrested near the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass here on Thursday and a tiger skin seized from them, officials said.
Following a tip-off, a joint team of the Eastern Region office of the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau and the Wildlife Crime Control Unit of West Bengal Forest Directorate carried out a raid and seized the tiger skin from a hotel in the evening.
The accused were identified as Aninda Mukherjee, 52, Tarak Halder, 57, and Ebrahim Mondal, 42.
According to wildlife officials, the metropolis, because of its proximity to a number or southeast Asian countries, serves as a transit route for smuggling.
Several wildlife agencies have made seizures from time to time from the metropolis over the past few years.