Leopard Skulls Seized in Manipur

Imphal, Mar 21 : Barely twenty days after Assam Rifles personnel seized three kg of tiger bones from Manipur's Chandel district, jawans of the country's oldest paramilitary force have once again confiscated huge amount of animal organs, including leopard skin and skulls, from the same district bordering Myanmar.

Assam Rifles, which guards the porous Indo-Myanmarese border in Chandel, has in the past seized such consignments several times.

The recent seizure was on Saturday when officers of the 42 Assam Rifles intercepted a taxi at Bogyang and found 301 kg of pangolin shells, a skin and skulls of leopards, and 19 kg of bones of other rare animals.

"We found the driver of the vehicle trying to dodge past a military check post in the area. But we managed to stop it and caught the driver, Yamthang," an Assam Rifles source said.

Yamthang is a resident of Moreh, a border town in Chandel which has, over the years, earned the notoriety of being a favoured corridor for animal-organ smugglers to send out their booties to southeast Asia.

"We also found 2,32,000 pills that Yamthang was carrying in his cab illegally," the source said.

The seizure, which is the biggest in recent times, "is a result of measures adopted by the Assam Rifles to stop smuggling of wildlife parts and drugs to different SE Asian countries through Myanmar.

The seized items have been handed over to the superintendent of police (Imphal West) in the presence of forest and wildlife officials.

Personnel of the 31 Assam Rifles had seized three kg of tiger bones from near Border Pillar No.77, at Moreh on February 28. In February 2009, two tiger skulls and 16 kg of bones and paws of the animals were intercepted at Bongyang post.