Three persons were arrested on Thursday in connection with the recovery of wildlife body parts from Dumdum area in the northern fringes of the city, a senior forest official said.
Deer skin, deer skull, elephant tusks, rhino horns and claws were among the items seized during a joint raid by DFO and the local police station at a house that began at 7.30 pm on Wednesday.
On interrogation of those present at the house, the team went to another house located nearby and seized five human skulls, opium packets and voodoo dolls, the official said.
The three persons were arrested by the joint team led by Raju Sarkar, Divisional Forest Officer, North 24-Parganas district, after the raids at the two houses in Nagerbazar, Chief Wildlife Warden Debal Roy told PTI.
The owner of the houses, identified as one Sourav Choudhury, was not found and a search has been launched to track him, he said.
Forest Minister Jyotipriyo Mallick said on Wednesday, "Poaching has become zero in West Bengal. It appears to be the handiwork of an inter-state gang, having operatives in West Bengal. We are on the hunt for them".
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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